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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27101500">it's still nothin' but a thing, to pick up where we left off</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectromanceinmymind/pseuds/perfectromanceinmymind'>perfectromanceinmymind</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Forever Unstoppable Samcedes [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Glee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 04:34:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,830</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27101500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectromanceinmymind/pseuds/perfectromanceinmymind</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Britt &amp; Santana invite the glee girls to a weekend at a lakehouse in advance of their wedding. Futurefic</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mike Chang/Tina Cohen-Chang, Sam Evans/Mercedes Jones, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Forever Unstoppable Samcedes [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/33725</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So. The last dang thing I need to do right now is start ANOTHER fic, but, here's the thing - Dancing with Dreams is real-world and canon-compliant. And while I think (I hope) I've been doing a good job in striking the balance between nostalgia and remembrance and happiness and sadness, sometimes it's been sad to write. And I've also been going back and re-reading my old stuff and ultimately decided that I really wanted to write something in my All I Want for Christmas/Forever Unstoppable/In this Moment world. And this idea was born. This is mostly just a little prologue to set up the idea and I'm not sure when I'll have more ready, but hopefully not too long. Any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to pass them along, LOL!</p><p>Things to know - Mostly canon up through the 3x11 Michael episode, although there are a few diversions here and there, mostly that they were all seniors (except Sugar) and Lauren didn't quit the club in S3. Everything after Michael and especially after the end of S3 may or may not be the same. No one is dead. Finchel, Klaine, Tike and Samcedes are married, Brittana is engaged. Everyone else currently unattached.</p><p>Finally, the title of the fic comes from a fantastic TLC song called "Way Back." I can absolutely see Santana and Mercedes singing it (and just might have them do it!)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The invitations arrived in early June.</p><p>"Oh, Lord," Mercedes said out loud as she looked at her phone. "This has disaster potential written ALL over it."</p><p>Sam looked up, intrigued. "What does?"</p><p>Mercedes tossed her phone to him as she answered, "Brittany and Santana are throwing themselves a bachelorette weekend at the end of August."</p><p>Sam grinned as he read from her phone, "'Before we become wives, let's have the time of our lives.' That's cute. Britt must have come up with it, seems a bit too sweet to be Santana."</p><p>Mercedes laughed as he handed her phone back to her. "You're probably right," she agreed. "Oh," she said, reading further through the invite, "they've booked a house right on the water at Lake Lure, near where the movie was filmed."</p><p>"Movie?"</p><p>"Dirty Dancing? Remember? The song is from the movie? 'Time of My Life?' You sang it with Quinn at Sectionals junior year?" Mercedes said, each question being met with a blank look.</p><p>Sam shook his head. "I have no memory of singing with other girls," he said, somehow keeping a straight face but shooting her a wink.</p><p>"Mm-hmm," was all Mercedes said in reply.</p><p>"Who all's invited?"</p><p>"Looks like all the glee girls," Mercedes said, scanning the guest list.</p><p>"Hmm," Sam said, a plan clearly forming. "Maybe I should call Mike and Finn and see if we can get a glee guys weekend together at the same time."</p><p>"That would be fun," Mercedes said as her phone started ringing. "Hey, Quinn! Yeah, I got one too…of course we can carpool!"</p><p>By the end of the night, tons of texts and calls had transpired between the fifteen old friends. The girls were all in on their trip and Sam had been charged with finding somewhere for the guys to stay for their own weekend. Everyone found themselves looking forward to the end of summer.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So where are the guys heading this weekend?"</p><p>Quinn posed the question to Sam as he was putting Mercedes' suitcase in the back of her Explorer. After much debate, they'd determined that the five-hour drive would probably be more comfortable in Quinn's small SUV, as opposed to Mercedes' even smaller sedan.</p><p>"Cabin in the Smokies," Sam replied. "Not too far from y'all, actually."</p><p>"But completely different from our trip," Mercedes chimed in as she came out their front door with her purse and a small tote bag. "They're going to be manly mountain men," she teased as she came to a stop beside her husband and Sam just ignored the jab, clearly used to the teasing about this trip. "Fishing and hiking and canoeing and stuff."</p><p>"Even Kurt?" Quinn asked curiously.</p><p>"Yes, even Kurt," Sam said, shaking his head. "Why does everyone always forget that Kurt was raised by Burt Hummel? He can totally do outdoorsy stuff. He just doesn't usually dress like he can."</p><p>Mercedes laughed. "Fair point. I mean, I can do outdoorsy stuff too. You've even talked me into a tent a few times. But I can't say it's my first choice of activity and I certainly don't usually dress for it either."</p><p>Sam grinned. "Admit it, you <em>liked</em> those nights in the tent."</p><p>"I admit nothing," Mercedes replied, flashing him a sassy grin. "And I also can't say I'm sorry that our weekend involves a nice dinner and some dancing and a spa day."</p><p>Quinn nodded in agreement. "Me neither. Alright, we should get going. Don't forget we cross back into Eastern time on the way."</p><p>Mercedes nodded and then gestured to her tote. "I've got some snacks and water bottles. I figured we could stop for lunch in Knoxville, but that should hold us till then."</p><p>Sam shook his head sadly. "Baby, that's so sad. Pre-packed snacks. You should always hit the convenience store on the way out of town and let the road tell you what you need."</p><p>"You see?" Mercedes said to Quinn. "You see what I live with?"</p><p>Quinn just laughed. "I think you kind of like it."</p><p>Sam pointed at Quinn. "You, I like. You're a smart one." He stepped forward and gave her a quick hug. "Have fun – drive carefully!" he said, before turning back to Mercedes. "And you – "</p><p>"Yeah?" she said cheerfully, but a little challengingly, looping her arms around his neck and grinning at him.</p><p>"I <em>love</em> you," he said softly before bending his head to give her a kiss, which she happily returned, only breaking apart with a laugh when Quinn started the Explorer's engine.</p><p>"Okay, okay!" Mercedes called. "We get the point." Sam followed her to the vehicle's door and waited until she had gotten in and put the window down.</p><p>"Have a good time," he said. "Let me know when you get there."</p><p>Mercedes nodded. "You too. Love you."</p><p>"Love <em>you</em>," he replied, leaning in the window to give her one more kiss and then waving at Quinn as he stepped back and headed back into the house to get ready for his own trip.</p><p>In the car, after waving good-bye, and getting out on the main road, Mercedes glanced over at Quinn with a slightly guilty look on her face.</p><p>"Sorry about the mushiness. I know we're ridiculous."</p><p>Quinn waved a dismissive hand in her direction. "It's fine. I've gotten used to being your third wheel." She flashed a quick smile. "You give me hope that love not only still exists, but that it lasts. Besides," she added as she pulled onto I-40 East, "I read somewhere that you can be considered a newlywed through the first four years of marriage, so you can just claim that."</p><p>Mercedes laughed. "Four years? Really? We're only halfway through being newlyweds? <em>That's</em> ridiculous." She shook her head. "Especially when you factor in that we've been a couple for seven-ish years. Maybe eight."</p><p>"You don't actually know?"</p><p>Mercedes shrugged. "It gets complicated. We had the first three months after junior prom, then there was the four months of which we do not speak and then a solid seven years since the Christmas of senior year." She caught Quinn's curious glance and elaborated, "We totally had it out about those four months when he got back to Ohio. You know that. We just don't talk about them now. Ancient history."</p><p>"And they lived happily ever after," Quinn quipped.</p><p>"That's my plan," Mercedes agreed cheerfully, reaching over to turn up the radio as they cruised on down the interstate.</p><p>It was an absolutely gorgeous Tennessee summer day, perfect for a road trip. The drive took about five hours, but the first four were on the interstate and most of the last hour was still four-lane highway, so it was a relatively easy ride and by early afternoon they were off the highway onto the last few miles of back roads until finally they turned onto a private gravel drive that ended with two houses next to each other in a secluded cove. The first house appeared to be unoccupied but a bright red Ford Thunderbird convertible was parked in front of the second one which, when Mercedes consulted the invite on her phone, was the one they were to be staying in. Between the two houses, she caught just slight glimpses of the lake itself.</p><p>"This isn't bad," Mercedes said as she got out of the car.</p><p>"Nope," Quinn agreed as she also exited the vehicle. "Trust Santana to find the nicest place in the middle of nowhere."</p><p>Mercedes acknowledged that with a nod as she grabbed her purse and tote bag and met Quinn at the back of the vehicle to get their suitcases out. As Quinn slammed the trunk gate shut, they heard the front door open and they were greeted with, "What's up, bitches?"</p><p>Santana was in the doorway, arms dramatically flung wide, Brittany behind her, smiling and waving.</p><p>"Nice wheels," Quinn said once the greetings and hugs were complete, indicating the Mustang.</p><p>"Isn't it?" Santana agreed. "Rental, but whatever, we decided it would be fun."</p><p>"Anyway, come in and see the house!" Brittany said excitedly. "It's amazing!"</p><p>"When did you guys get in?"</p><p>"Wednesday," Santana said over her shoulder as they followed her through the entryway and into the large open plan room that was the bulk of the first floor. "Figured we'd get a few days to ourselves before you all got here and then we're staying another two days after you leave on Sunday. Like a pre-honeymoon."</p><p>"Yeah, 'cause we're only going to be able to get away for a couple nights after the wedding," Brittany added. "I go straight into rehearsals the next week."</p><p>"Don't you know that show by heart already?" Mercedes asked.</p><p>Brittany was going into her third holiday season as a Rockette, dancing in the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City.</p><p>"I do," Brittany replied, "but the new girls don't and we have to become a team, so, what can you do?"</p><p>"Take a cruise next February," Santana cracked and the others laughed. "Oh, no, I'm serious. We're going somewhere tropical, I promise you." She turned and waved her hand around the room, Vanna White style. "Anyway, check this place out. Isn't it amazing?"</p><p>It really was. A gorgeous kitchen with all the amenities was to their right. A granite-top bar divided the kitchen area from the living room area, a large space that was somehow cozy at the same time, with a big, plush couch and a couple of oversized armchairs, all adorned with throw pillows and fleece blankets. But the real star of the room was the floor-to-ceiling windows through which the vast expanse of Lake Lure could be seen. Double doors led out to a large deck space.</p><p>"Come see outside," Brittany said, leading them through the doors and that's when Mercedes realized that although she had thought the two houses were on an equal level to each other, the house they were in was actually higher up than the other one. And, their decks were actually linked to each other. The bulk of their deck was where they were currently standing, an outdoor dining set off to one side and some Adirondack chairs near the railings looking out at the lake. Then a set of stairs led down towards the water, ending at a landing that was more of a four-way intersection of sorts.</p><p>In addition to the steps from their house, the landing was level with the deck that extended from the other house in the cove and with the dock that stretched out into the water. Finally, there were a couple of steps that led down to a large patio area in front of their house. There was an outdoor bar and kitchen area, plenty of outdoor furniture – couches, chairs, etc. – and a built-in brick fire pit. Beyond the patio, there was a small stretch of sandy beach area and a few canoes lying near the edge of the water.</p><p>"Wow," was all Mercedes could say.</p><p>"Yeah, seriously," Quinn agreed. "How did you find this place?"</p><p>Santana shrugged. "Rental company. Researched online, looked at pictures and honestly, kind of lucked out that this place was available. It's awesome, right?"</p><p>They nodded and Santana laughed as she and Brittany ushered the other two women back inside. "I mean, did you expect anything less from me?"</p><p>"Obviously not," Mercedes tossed back at her.</p><p>"Anyway, since you guys are here first, you can pick which room you want," Brittany said. "We're in that bedroom –" she pointed at the first door on a hallway beyond the living room "-but there's a second master downstairs with a queen bed and then upstairs there's another room with a queen bed and then a room with two bunk beds. And the two rooms upstairs share a bathroom."</p><p>"Well, I like the idea of one bathroom for two people instead of for four, so let's take downstairs?" Mercedes said to Quinn, who nodded in agreement. They carried their bags into that room and came back to the living room, Quinn asking, "Where are the others? Shouldn't they have been here by now?"</p><p>"Yeah, they're all flying into the Charlotte airport and meeting up to drive here, but Lauren's flight from Vegas was delayed so they were later leaving from the airport than they thought. Should be here pretty soon though," Brittany explained.</p><p>As if on cue, there came a ruckus at the front door.</p><p>"Well, if they weren't going to allow me to sing, Sugar, we certainly couldn't allow YOU to sing!"</p><p>"That is so rude, Rachel! My singing has improved a LOT since high school!"</p><p>"Personally, I think you should both shut the fuck up about singing entirely."</p><p>"OH MY GOD! Can you all shut up? I can't believe I got us here without crashing the damn car!"</p><p>Santana grinned at the other three women standing inside the house before heading toward the door.</p><p>"Ladies," she said, "it's gonna be just like old times."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Nobody is killing anyone, okay? This is a party, not a murder mystery weekend," Santana declared as she flung the door open to reveal Tina, Lauren, Sugar and Rachel sniping at each other on the front porch.</p><p>The squabbling gave way to squeals of excitement as the eight old friends greeted each other with a multitude of hugs.</p><p>"An hour and thirty minutes, Santana," Tina said, collapsing onto the couch after the greetings were finished. "Why did you pick a place an hour and thirty minutes from the nearest airport? I know why. Because you didn't have to spend that hour and thirty minutes in the car with these three!"</p><p>"Oh, calm yourself, Chang-Chang, it can't have been that bad," Santana said dismissively as she leaned against the bar and Tina rolled her eyes.</p><p>"You know that's not my last name," she retorted. "I'm still Cohen-Chang. I didn't see the point in changing it to literally the same name."</p><p>"That was probably really smart of you, Tina," Mercedes said, sitting down beside her. "The number of places I had to change my name when I switched to Evans was insane. Just finding the social security office in downtown Nashville was a nightmare in and of itself."</p><p>"Have you guys decided what you're going to do?" Rachel asked curiously, her question directed at Brittany and Santana. "Pierce-Lopez, Lopez-Pierce, same order for each of you or your own original name first or what? And I agree, Mercedes, I thought about legally changing to Hudson for personal things and keeping Berry for the stage, but oh my gosh, the paperwork involved!"</p><p>"Well, look at that, Rachel, we agree on something," Mercedes said lightly and Rachel smiled.</p><p>"Was it weird to have to learn to sign a new name?" Sugar asked.</p><p>Mercedes nodded. "Yeah, that was weird. For the first little while, either I felt like an imposter or like a middle-school girl writing my name with my crush's." Knowing laughter greeted this statement. "And you know what else is weird? My initials now are the same as Sam's mom – her maiden name is Jensen."</p><p>"You could always make up a whole new name!" Rachel suggested to Brittany and Santana and Quinn nodded from her spot on the other side of Mercedes.</p><p>"I actually had a pair of grooms last year that did that," Quinn said, referring to clients from her event planning business. "One of them had a sister that passed away a while back and they decided to make her name their new last name. It was really sweet."</p><p>"That's a thought," Santana said. "A slightly depressing thought, but a thought nonetheless. However, as I have already stated, this is a party! So no more depressing thoughts. To answer the question, no, we haven't decided. We've got time. What needs to be decided now is how you four are rooming this weekend. There's two rooms left upstairs – one with a queen bed and one with two sets of bunk beds. You'll be sharing a bathroom."</p><p>"I don't mind a bunk bed if it means I don't have to share with Rachel," Sugar said, "after how mean she's been about my singing."</p><p>Rachel huffed and rolled her eyes and for some reason, Tina decided to take pity on her. "I'll share with Rachel. We'll take the queen room and you and Lauren can have the bunk beds."</p><p>"Works for me," Lauren agreed.</p><p>"Excellent," Santana said. "Now that that's settled – Britt?" She looked over at her fiancée and Brittany headed to the back corner of the living room and picked up a box.</p><p>"We're just really excited that you guys are all here to celebrate with us," Brittany said happily as she walked back over to the group. "So we got you all a little welcome gift." She opened up the box and started handing out personalized wine tumblers to each woman, matching each one to the tumbler with their name on it.</p><p>"Also, this way, our names are on our glasses, so no one should accidentally drink anyone else's drink. Which could be important," Santana said.</p><p>"Wait, I thought this wasn't a murder mystery weekend," Quinn cracked. "You're making me feel like we should be worried about being poisoned."</p><p>"<em>Anyway</em>," Santana said, "it's almost an hour to Asheville, where we're having dinner and going dancing, so we need to get ready to go out. Obviously, the glasses are for tomorrow, not tonight."</p><p>Quinn, ever the responsible one, asked, "So are we designating a driver tonight or do they actually have Uber way the hell out here?"</p><p>Santana leveled a look in her direction. "The rental company told me there should be Uber."</p><p>"Yeah, the whole point of this weekend is for us to all have a good time," Brittany said. "No one should have to stay sober or be DD."</p><p>"But if someone wanted to volunteer…" Santana said, glancing at Tina as she said this.</p><p>Tina took a deep breath and raised her hand. "Actually – I can be the DD. I'll stay sober," she said.</p><p>"Tina! No! You're one of our happy drunks. If anyone's going to stay sober, it needs to be Quinn or Lauren, to reduce the chance of anyone getting yelled at," Rachel said.</p><p>"Or you, so you're not draped all over everyone," Quinn muttered under her breath, to which Mercedes couldn't resist elbowing her and muttering back, "See, you're angry already" and then both of them had to choke back laughter.</p><p>Meanwhile, Tina just smiled. "I appreciate that sentiment, but, I kind of can't drink this weekend anyway – or for a while – like, oh the next eight months or so."</p><p>There was a collective intake of breath as the group began to grasp where this conversation was going, but it was Mercedes who actually posed the question. "Tina – are you –" her voice trailed off and she stage-whispered the word "PREGNANT?"</p><p>Tina nodded, the smile on her face getting bigger as she patted her stomach and said, "Yeah. Twelve weeks as of Tuesday", and the room exploded as Tina was practically attacked with hugs from all sides and exclamations of excitement.</p><p>"Congratulations!"</p><p>"Oh, TINA!"</p><p>"I'm so happy for you and Mike!"</p><p>"This is so EXCITING!"</p><p>"Chang-Chang to the power of THREE, y'all!"</p><p>"We're finally going to see if your babies will be Asian too!"</p><p>"Wait," Rachel said. "Did Santana already know?"</p><p>Tina nodded. "Yeah, I called earlier this week to tell her. I knew this weekend was going to involve a lot of alcohol, so I figured I'd better be pro-active." She grinned. "So that's why our rental car is an eight-passenger freakin' Escalade, because Santana arranged for it, since she knew I could drive us all. So we are riding in style!"</p><p>"So, c'mon y'all, let's get ready to party!"</p><p>The women scattered to their respective rooms then, drifting back out into the living room after about thirty minutes or so, ready to go out. Dressed to the nines, hair on point, makeup flawless. They made quite the striking group.</p><p>"We need to take a picture, you guys!" Rachel said excitedly, holding out her phone. "Here, either Brittany or Quinn can do it, you two are the tallest."</p><p>"She never gets tired of telling people what to do, does she?" Tina muttered to Mercedes, who stifled a laugh as they grouped in together so Brittany could take the group selfie.</p><p>Getting in the car was another ordeal. The only two things anyone seemed to know for certain was that Tina was driving and Brittany and Santana wanted to sit together. After much debate and discussion, Lauren wound up on the last row with them, Mercedes in between Rachel and Sugar on the front row and Quinn in the front passenger seat.</p><p>They had driven less than a mile before everyone's phone pinged, letting them know that Rachel had put the picture on Facebook.</p><p>
  <strong>Rachel Berry is with Tina Cohen-Chang, Mercedes Jones Evans, Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez, Sugar Motta, Brittany S. Pierce and Lauren Zizes in Lake Lure, NC.</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Celebrating our Brittana this weekend! #gleegirls #reunited #and it feels so good</em>
</p><p>Almost immediately, the phones pinged again and then Santana said in disgust, "Ugh. Berry, why the fuck are you Facebook friends with Mr. Schue? That's weird. He's weird."</p><p>"It's Facebook," Quinn pointed out. "That's where you're supposed to friend the random adults of your life."</p><p>"I mean – he came to my wedding," Mercedes said. "That was probably weird too. What'd he say?" she asked, clearly forgetting that she could look at her own phone.</p><p>"'Lookin' good, ladies! Great to see you all together!'" Santana read from her phone. "Just creepy."</p><p>"Look," Mercedes said, turning around in her seat. "I certainly had my issues with him as a teacher too. But whatever faults he had, you can't deny that he genuinely cared about us." She lowered her voice to a whisper, "Even if he cared more about some of us than others."</p><p>"I heard that," Rachel said and Mercedes rolled her eyes as Rachel continued, "And I can also acknowledge that it was true. I mean, I obviously took total advantage of it, but he did play favorites."</p><p>Their phones chimed again and there was a collective 'ugh' from those who looked at the notification to see that Puck had commented "Hot mamas! Love you girls!"</p><p>"Nothing ever changes with him," Lauren commented idly and Santana snorted in agreement.</p><p>"At least Mr. Schue called us 'ladies' and not 'girls,'" Brittany pointed out.</p><p>"Oh, <em>good</em>," Santana said, in a tone that indicated that it was not good at ALL, "the husbands are chiming in now."</p><p>"Oh, what are they saying?" Tina called from the driver's seat. "I can't look at my phone while I'm driving."</p><p>"Mike said 'Damn, my wife is hot. Love you, T, you guys have fun!'" Mercedes updated her and the car collectively 'awww'd' at this.</p><p>"Oh, Sam just said 'Um, excuse me, but have you seen my wife? #thehottest'" Sugar delivered this update and Mercedes smiled, quickly going to 'like' the comment. She knew it was a silly thing, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy it.</p><p>"And finally, Finn said 'Hey, my wife's in the picture too!'" Lauren read this and then snickered. "I'm not actually sure if that's a compliment or not."</p><p>Rachel waved a dismissive hand. "He tried. Points for effort."</p><p>"Oh, thank God, here comes Kurt as the voice of reason," Santana said, reading Kurt's comment, "'Okay, gentlemen, I think we can agree that all three of you married way the hell up. Ladies – you look fabulous! No notes from me.' He's not wrong. All three of those idiots hit the jackpot when you three said 'yes' to them. Yes, even you, Berry," she added as Rachel turned around with an incredulous look. Santana shrugged. "It's my party. I'm feeling generous. Don't push your luck."</p><p>"Anyway," Quinn said, turning in the front seat to look at the rest of them, "enough about boys for now. How's everything going in other areas of life?"</p><p>"Yeah," Santana chimed in. "Thank you, Q. We can circle back around to your love lives when you've all had enough to drink that the conversation might actually get interesting."</p><p>The vehicle's occupants basically collectively rolled their eyes at this. They spent the rest of the drive updating each other on their lives – Quinn's event planning business going strong in Nashville, Mercedes doing her studio session back-up singer thing but also performing solo at a few different bars around Nashville, Rachel getting ready to work on a new Broadway production, Lauren in a wrestling show in Vegas, Santana building her PR business in NYC, Brittany dancing with the Rockettes, Sugar had been at home in Lima but was trying to decide where to head on her next global wandering and Tina the stage manager-in-residence at an Off-Broadway theater in Queens, where Mike was their primary choreographer.</p><p>"What are you going to do when the baby comes?" someone asked her and Tina shrugged.</p><p>"No idea yet. Obviously, I'll take some time off and I have an assistant who can fill in while I'm out, but then I'm not sure. We have some unused space so the ideal would be to hire some kind of help and then bring the baby to the theater with us, but we haven't fully fleshed that plan out yet."</p><p>The conversation made the drive pass quickly and soon they were heading in to one of the many brewery-restaurants in Asheville, a town known almost as equally for its craft beer scene as for its foodie scene.</p><p>"I meant what I said earlier," Santana threatened once they were seated in a round corner booth. "If I have to break out Never Have I Ever or Truth or Dare to get both the conversation and the drinks flowing, I will."</p><p>"Okay, then. Where's the cocktail menu?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much to everyone reading and sharing your thoughts. The comments keep me motivated!</p><p>Alright, y'all, enjoy some girl talk with our ladies. Whew, this was a hard one to get right - I hope I did! Enjoy - and please let me know what you think!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"God, I haven't played dumb games like that in years," Quinn said, shaking her head. "Maybe not since high school."</p><p>"No, we definitely played after high school, because it's how Santana tricked Mercedes into telling the rest of us that she'd finally slept with Sam," Brittany piped up.</p><p>Mercedes groaned at this statement.</p><p>"But we didn't actually play it, Santana only brought it up to get Mercedes to confess," Tina pointed out.</p><p>"Oh, that's right," Brittany replied.</p><p>Quinn shook her head. "Well, still, I wasn't there, it must have just been the New York girls."</p><p>"It was," Santana said. "Me and Britt and Mercedes and Tina and Rachel." She flashed a grin at Mercedes. "I was pretty delighted with myself over that reveal."</p><p>Mercedes shook her head. "You were such a jerk, Santana. First you tricked me into telling you about it and then you tricked me into telling everyone else."</p><p>"Oh, you would have told us all eventually anyway."</p><p>"So, wait, what actually happened?" Sugar asked.</p><p>Mercedes sighed. "God…okay, so you know that everyone eventually found out around the end of our senior year of high school that Sam and I hadn't had sex yet, right? Why it was anyone's business, I still do not know – "</p><p>"Because it was glee club and everyone's sex life was everyone's business," Santana interrupted as Sugar nodded.</p><p>"-but anyway," Mercedes continued, as though Santana had not spoken, "as you also know, we long-distance dated for four years because we went to college in different states. Which sucked, BUT, we tried to meet up for a weekend together at least once a month and we spent summers together as counselors at a summer music program on the Vanderbilt campus. And Santana developed this charming habit of looking at me and saying 'you had sex, didn't you' every time she saw me again after she knew Sam and I had seen each other. And I learned to ignore it."</p><p>"Until we all got back to the City after the summer between sophomore and junior years and I said it and you just froze, Mercedes, and looked absolutely panicked and then basically WAILED 'how did you KNOW?'"</p><p>"And the bitch just grinned and shrugged and said 'you just told me,'" Mercedes concluded, shaking her head. "And then we had a 'welcome back' slumber party that weekend and she's all, let's play a game! And immediately busts out 'never have I ever had sex with Sam Evans.' And looks at me like she's just daring me to deny it."</p><p>"Oh my gosh, the look on your face," Rachel said with a laugh. "I remember now!" She looked across the table at Santana. "That was a little bitchy, though."</p><p>Santana shrugged. "Honestly, the only real surprise in all of this is that she didn't make him hold out longer."</p><p>Mercedes rolled her eyes. "I didn't 'make' him do anything. He chose to respect my boundaries."</p><p>"Yeah, Mercedes is right," Tina said. "I mean, it was basically the same way with me and Mike. I was just ready sooner." She grinned. "And Rachel convened regular sessions on whether she should do it with Finn or not, so you know, whatever."</p><p>"I do my best thinking out loud," Rachel said with a shrug.</p><p>"Well, you all know my feelings on sex with Finn, so I'll just say, for your sake, Rachel, I hope he's improved," Santana said.</p><p>Rachel rolled her eyes. "It's fine. He's fine."</p><p>Santana looked like she didn't quite believe this, but apparently opted to move on. "So Tina. Truth or dare."</p><p>Tina was pretty certain she did not like the gleam in Santana's eyes, but she rolled her eyes and said, "We're not actually playing the damn game. Just ask me whatever ridiculous thing you want to know."</p><p>Santana grinned. "Does Boy Chang still want to screw even though you're pregnant?"</p><p>Rachel made a face. "Really Santana. Do you have to be so crude?"</p><p>Santana shrugged. "I thought I was toning it down by not saying fuck. So, Tina, does he still want to make sweet tender love to you?"</p><p>"Oh my God, that's almost even worse," Tina said, laughing in spite of herself. "Can you not just say have sex?"</p><p>Santana shrugged again. "Whatever you want to call it, is it still happening?"</p><p>"As a matter of fact, yes," Tina said, primly, before admitting with a giggle, "He actually wants to do it like more than ever before."</p><p>Santana contemplated this before declaring, "That's got to be some, like, holdover from caveman times. Like, he needs to imprint his scent on you or something so all the other cavemen know that it's his baby."</p><p>It was Tina's turn to shrug. "Whatever it is, I'm not complaining."</p><p>"Get it, girl," Lauren cracked and they all laughed. "Do it as much as you can now before that baby starts cramping your style."</p><p>"Yeah and do it for all of us not getting any at all," Quinn said mildly.</p><p>"Oh, come on, Q, tell us the truth," Tina replied with a grin. "You and Puckerman still hook up, don't you?"</p><p>Quinn made a horrible face and vehemently shook her head 'no.' "No!"</p><p>"That's a pretty strong denial," Sugar commented.</p><p>"No, really, you guys, I've learned my lesson. We've tried too many times and we just don't work. Besides," Quinn added with a shrug, "he's out of town more than he's in town these days. I haven't seen him since, what, your Memorial Day cookout?" She directed this at Mercedes, who nodded.</p><p>"Yeah, I can vouch," Mercedes said. "He hasn't been around all summer. We'd usually go see him play once a week or so or he'd come hang out. Poor Sam's been missing his bestie," she laughed.</p><p>"Aww, poor Sam," Brittany said. "Maybe you should get him a pet. Lord Tubbington's great to have around when Santana's not home."</p><p>Sugar's eyes widened. "That cat is still alive?"</p><p>"Of course he is," Brittany replied as if this were the most obvious thing in the world that everyone should know. "He's immortal."</p><p>"Yes. It does appear at this time as though Lord Tubbington will live forever," Santana said, sounding resigned to this fact as she patted her fiancée's hand. "But Mercedes doesn't need to get Trouty a pet. She can just let him rest his head on her generous bosom and I'm sure he'll feel better."</p><p>"Santana!" Mercedes said indignantly.</p><p>"What?" she responded with an innocent shrug before grinning at the rest of the group. "Here's a drinking game for us – everyone take a sip if you've ever caught Trouty staring at his woman's rack."</p><p>The seven women at the table not married to Sam all immediately took a sip of whatever they were drinking and Mercedes glared at them all for a minute before Santana reached across Quinn to poke Mercedes in the arm. "C'mon, you can't deny that your boy likes the girls."</p><p>Shaking her head, Mercedes cracked a small smile and took a sip of her own cocktail. "Fine, you're not wrong. He is a fan."</p><p>"Yeah, that's why he and I didn't work out," Santana joked. "We both like boobs too much," she added as she stole a not-so-subtle glance at Brittany's cleavage.</p><p>"Oh good Lord," Tina muttered as Mercedes tried not to choke on her drink.</p><p>"Anyway, why would Mike not still want to be intimate with Tina now?" Rachel asked. "Are you implying that pregnancy is unattractive?" She frowned. "That's not very feminist of you."</p><p>Santana shrugged. "Don't some guys get weirded out about it? Worried that their dick is gonna hit the baby or something?" She paused, thinking. "Well, this is Mike we're talking about, he's generally too smart for that. It's probably more likely to be an issue Finn, Sam or Puck will have one day."</p><p>Mercedes just shook her head at that comment, although she had to admit that Rachel actually looked a little concerned by it.</p><p>"Speaking of Puck, where has he been all summer if not in Nashville?" Tina asked.</p><p>"He had some gigs early in the summer, filling in on some different road bands," Mercedes said. "And he's been working some show on the Strip in Vegas since the end of June." She glanced at Lauren. "Have you seen him at all?"</p><p>Lauren nodded. "Yeah, we've met up a few times. Not too often." She didn't seem inclined to offer any further information and the conversation moved on.</p><p>"Circling back to your earlier statement, Quinn," Rachel said, "are you really not seeing anyone? I would think the eligible bachelors of Nashville would be beating a path to your door."</p><p>Quinn shook her head. "You guys have no idea how miserable the dating scene is. Or, well, most of you don't. And while I admit to being pretty quick to fool around in college, I'm not really interested in casual sex anymore. I want some commitment, some romance."</p><p>"Boring," Sugar piped up. "After Rory and I broke up and I left Ireland, I totally slept my way across Europe. It was awesome."</p><p>Santana looked intrigued. "Well, now that certainly does sound interesting. Do tell."</p><p>"Well, first there was Jacques…"</p><p>Mercedes tuned Sugar out as she launched into her story, turning to Tina. "Why does the conversation always come back around to sex when Santana's involved?"</p><p>Tina snorted. "Because it's her all-time favorite hobby."</p><p>They both broke into giggles at that.</p><p>The rest of the meal continued in much the same vein – laughter, stories and maybe just a touch of oversharing, punctuated by the occasional exclamation from Sugar, like "Oh! I forget about Jiri, from Prague!" There's a few more rounds of cocktails and things just get silly, in the way that probably always happens between groups of old friends like these.</p><p>Eventually, Santana herded them out of the booth and they headed down the street to the bar Santana had found, deliberately close enough to the restaurant that they could just walk there. A sign on the door proclaimed it to be '90's night' and since they could hear Blackstreet's 'No Diggity' before they even got inside, it seemed to be true. Mercedes grinned – they did all love to dance.</p><p>An hour or two later, Mercedes had no idea what time it was, but she was pretty sure it had to be close to time to leave, or at least she hoped it was, because she was exhausted. She and several others collapsed into a booth after a raucous sing-along with the Spice Girls 'Wannabe.'</p><p>Beside her, Brittany let her head fall on Mercedes' shoulder. "Santana's right," she mumbled. "Your boobs would make a great pillow."</p><p>Mercedes laughed as across the table, Santana narrowed her eyes at them, not angrily, but clearly trying to focus. "They're so big," she said suddenly. "And Trouty's got that big mouth – can he fit your whole boob in his mouth, Mercedes?"</p><p>Mercedes had stopped drinking a little while ago, feeling bad for Tina, but she was still buzzed enough to just laugh at the question. "His mouth isn't that big, Santana." Then, another laugh and a wink. "But he may or may not have tried."</p><p>Santana responded to this with a cackle of laughter and Mercedes looked across the booth at Lauren. "I think it's time to head home."</p><p>Lauren nodded her agreement. "I'll tell Quinn to come help you with these two. Tina and I can handle getting Sugar and Rachel to the car."</p><p>"Perfect."</p><p>Quinn appeared a few minutes later and got Brittany up and headed to the door, leaving Mercedes to basically drag Santana out behind them.</p><p>It was only a couple of blocks from the bar to the parking lot the vehicle was in but about halfway there, Santana suddenly patted Mercedes's arm. "Mercedes, I have a question."</p><p>"Okay," Mercedes said warily.</p><p>"Are you happy with Sam?"</p><p>Mercedes had opened her mouth, about to say, "Um, yeah," because, what a random question, when Santana kept on speaking as if she hadn't tried to respond.</p><p>"Like, happy sexually speaking, I mean. Does he give you orgasms?"</p><p>They had reached the car at this point and although the faint mountain chill in the night air had been cooling on the walk, Mercedes could feel her face getting hot as the others turned to look at them.</p><p>"Did she just ask…"</p><p>"Well, does he?" Santana demanded.</p><p>"Oh, my God," Mercedes muttered before saying, "Yes, Santana, he does. We're good."</p><p>Santana nodded, satisfied with this answer. "Good. I don't want to have to kick his ass."</p><p>Lauren blinked. "You're going to kick her husband's ass if he's not satisfying her sexually?"</p><p>Santana stomped her foot. "Yes." Her eyes ran around the other seven of them before focusing on Tina. "And Mike's too, if I have to. Tina?"</p><p>"Yup," Tina said quickly. "All good, Mike takes care of me."</p><p>Santana nodded again, apparently once again appeased. "It's just – you all are my friends – you're my girls and I love you all and –" here she started to cry "- and orgasms are so important and it's not your faults that you all like boys and they don't always know what to do with the lady parts and I just want you all to have someone awesome who will give you the orgasms you deserve, like I have with Brittany." She pulled them all into a group hug that was so misshapen that they almost had to laugh.</p><p>"Well, I will be happy to send you an update once I get to Rio," Sugar giggled.</p><p>"Thank you," Santana said, going to hug her. "That is so sweet."</p><p>Lauren just shook her head and went to shove Rachel in the car and then climbed in behind her. "Don't worry about me, Lopez. I got someone when I need him."</p><p>"That's wonderful, Lauren!" Santana called after her before turning to Quinn. "Now – what can we do about you, Quinn?"</p><p>"You can get in the car," Quinn said. "So we can get back to the house."</p><p>"Maybe you should get in first?" Mercedes suggested. "And then she might follow?"</p><p>Quinn rolled her eyes but tugged on Santana's arm. "C'mon. Get in the car and you can figure out how to find me a boyfriend."</p><p>"Yay!" Santana said, clapping her hands and then hugging Quinn, before following her into the back row of seats, a smiling Brittany right behind her.</p><p>Tina and Mercedes looked at each other in the parking lot.</p><p>"That was the sweetest – but also most sexual declaration of friendship love I think I've ever heard," Tina said, looking a little dumbstruck by the last few minutes.</p><p>Mercedes laughed. "She's SO drunk. She even called Sam 'Sam' and not Trouty. I think that threw me off even more than the direct questioning about our sex lives."</p><p>"Oh my God, the look on your face!" Tina burst into giggles.</p><p>"Our friends are bonkers," Mercedes declared. "But we love them for it."</p><p>"Wouldn't have them any other way," Tina agreed.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please enjoy, please let me know what you think!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mercedes leaned her head against the Escalade's window as Tina turned it down the gravel drive that led to their cove. It was mostly quiet in the backseats now too, except for the occasional sniffle from Santana. Mercedes suddenly found herself thankful for the hour drive back that had allowed everyone's buzz to wear off a little bit.</p><p>As they passed the front of the other house, she realized there were cars parked there now – a large SUV not unlike the one they were in, but not as fancy – and then a smaller one that actually looked a lot like Sam's Jeep Cherokee. She shook her head at herself. You're seeing things, she thought. It hasn't even been a day away from him, stop acting like a crazy person. But then her brain just barely registered as they drove past – the Tennessee license plate and the Vanderbilt alumni sticker on the window. She pulled out her phone as Tina got the car parked and quickly sent him a text.</p><p>MJE: Are you here?</p><p>Then she stuck her phone back in her little bag and went to help her friends into the house.</p><p>"Okay," Tina said. "Everybody out and in the house and to their rooms. Let's try to get at least a little rest before we get up to go relax tomorrow."</p><p>"Don't have to tell me twice," Lauren said, jumping out easily, as Sugar exited from the other side and the two made their way to the house.</p><p>"Or me," Quinn said, shoving Santana and Brittany – who had started making out at some point on the drive and were now very reluctant to be separated – towards the passenger-side back door.</p><p>Tina reached across the front row to pull Rachel towards the driver-side door. "C'mon, Rach. Let's go." She got Rachel's arm over her shoulder and started directing her towards the house. "You guys got them?" she called back and Mercedes replied, "Yeah."</p><p>"You're so nice, Tina," they could hear Rachel saying as the two of them walked – or rather, shuffled - away. "It's so nice of you to help me inside. Except for making me walk. Finn would carry me."</p><p>"Yeah, well, Finn is a foot taller than both of us," came Tina's curt reply and Mercedes stifled a giggle.</p><p>"Why do you keep hitting me?" Santana finally removed her lips from Brittany's long enough to lodge this complaint at Quinn and Quinn rolled her eyes.</p><p>"I am not hitting you! I'm trying to get you out of this damn car so I can go to bed. You can get back in the car after I get out or go to your own bed, I do not care, but please let me out of here. NOW."</p><p>"Jesus, Quinn, chill the fuck out." Santana glared at Quinn. "God, you really do need to get laid."</p><p>"Santana, I swear to God – "</p><p>Mercedes had managed to get Brittany out of the car, who now turned around and tugged on Santana's hand. "Come on, she's just trying to help you."</p><p>As usual, Brittany's words seemed to have a magic effect on Santana and she happily climbed out of the car and followed Brittany into the house.</p><p>"Good Lord," Quinn muttered as she got herself out of the vehicle. "That was an ordeal."</p><p>Mercedes laughed. "Thank God we're just drinking here tomorrow night."</p><p>"Right?"</p><p>Once inside and in their room, Quinn headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed and Mercedes pulled her phone back out of her purse to find that Sam had responded to her.</p><p>SE: Depends what u mean by here?</p><p>Mercedes rolled her eyes at that.</p><p>MJE: You know exactly what I mean. Are you in the house next to the one I'm in?</p><p>SE: Maybe?</p><p>MJE: You're so busted. I saw your car.</p><p>SE: Aw, shit. Was hoping you wouldn't notice it</p><p>MJE: what happened to outdoor stuff</p><p>SE: can do that here. Fish, hike but also we can hang out with yall tomorrow nite?</p><p>SE: best of both wrlds right</p><p>MJE: Santana's gonna kill you. So we'll see.</p><p>SE: Ha ha</p><p>SE: but do you really think she will</p><p>MJE: hope not. I'm too young to be a widow</p><p>SE: and you wld miss me</p><p>MJE: maybe</p><p>SE: you WOULD</p><p>MJE: I guess so</p><p>SE:</p><p>SE: told you</p><p>MJE: whatever, go to bed, I love you</p><p>SE: love you too, gnight</p><p>Shaking her head, Mercedes found her charger and plugged her phone in as Quinn emerged from the bathroom in her pajamas.</p><p>"All yours!" Quinn said and Mercedes had the fleeting thought that she was working hard to be cheerful but dismissed it as she went to get ready for bed.</p><p>Mercedes came out of the bathroom after changing into her pajama set and brushing her teeth to find Quinn sitting on the side of the bed she'd claimed as hers with her knees drawn to her chest. And somehow Mercedes knew that she'd figured out the Puck question. Quinn looked up at her with a resigned expression.</p><p>"It's Puck, isn't it? Who Lauren said she has when she needs him?"</p><p>Mercedes nodded. "Yeah. I don't know that it's anything serious or if it's just nostalgia or what, but yeah."</p><p>"Why didn't you tell me?"</p><p>Mercedes sighed as she sat down on her side of the bed. "I'm not even supposed to know. I don't think he meant to even tell Sam, but once he did, of course Sam slipped and told me. And then swore me to secrecy." She gave her a sympathetic smile. "And I honestly wasn't sure if it was something that you'd care about or not. I thought it was really over this time?"</p><p>Quinn nodded. "Yeah. It is, it has been – it's just – this really makes it final, you know?" She shook her head. "I know it's dumb, but I guess a part of me liked knowing he was out there unattached too, as like a back-up, just in case. Like, if we're both forty and still single, we'd get married or something. But – I guess this is it. End of the road."</p><p>"It's really not a bad thing," Mercedes said, trying to be encouraging. "I mean, I know I have no room to talk, since I'm part of one of them, but good Lord, we have FIVE sets of married high school sweethearts in our friend group. Or, will be five once we get through this next wedding. That's insane."</p><p>Quinn couldn't help laughing at that. "I guess that's true. At least Kurt brought Blaine into the group from outside. And Sam wasn't there for the very beginning of glee either."</p><p>Mercedes shook her head. "No. But that actually is annoying. The number of times I've been like 'remember? Madonna week?' or 'you know, when Mr. Schue made us all use wheelchairs?' And he's just all, I didn't live there yet." She laughed. "Those, of course, are not to be confused with the times he pretends not to remember things, like singing duets with you. He claims to have absolutely no memory of that."</p><p>Quinn laughed at that. "He's just a loyal husband, that's all," she said, shaking her head. "But, see, you get it though. That's exactly one of the appealing things about Puck. He knows all the inside jokes, all the dirt, all the history…" her voice trailed off and then she said, very softly, "I don't have to explain about Beth…"</p><p>"Oh, Quinn," Mercedes said gently, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder.</p><p>Quinn shook her head. "It's okay. I'm just – wallowing for a minute. It's just hard. And I love you and Sam and I love that you include me so much – but – sometimes that's hard too. You guys are so happy and so in tune with each other. I know I said I don't mind being your third wheel and I really don't, most of the time, but I can't lie and say I don't get lonely sometimes."</p><p>Mercedes nodded. "I know. I know it's not the same, but college was rough a lot of the time. All those random times I'd end up hanging out with Kurt and Blaine or with Britt and Santana or with all four of them. I know I technically had Sam, but he was so far away. Thank God we live in the time we do and we had texting and Facetime and Facebook and all that. My mom talks about pay phones and waiting to get a letter from my dad when they were in college."</p><p>Quinn smiled. "In some ways, though, doesn't that sound romantic?"</p><p>"Yeah," Mercedes admitted. She smiled. "Sam leaves notes around the apartment for me sometimes. His handwriting is atrocious, but somehow that makes it even sweeter, that he makes the effort to actually use pen and paper." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I was supposed to be commiserating and I went completely off track."</p><p>Quinn laughed. "It's okay, really."</p><p>"Anyway, back to what I said at the beginning of this conversation. We're a weird little group. Be the rebel, Quinn Fabray. Find someone who was not in the glee club at McKinley High School." Mercedes issued the directive with a laugh and Quinn laughed too.</p><p>"You know – considering that we were constantly in danger of not qualifying for competitions because we didn't have enough club members, it's really amazing that it's so damn hard to do that." She smiled, looking thoughtful. "Wonder whatever happened to floppy-haired bass dude?"</p><p>Mercedes laughed. "I have no idea."</p><p>Quinn shook her head. "No, you're right. I need to break out of the circle."</p><p>"If anyone can do it, it's you."</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry it's been a while, y'all. The words are not flowing quite as easily right now, but I promise, I will not give up on this story! Some of the later parts are already written - it's just trying to figure out the middles to get it where I want it to go. Please enjoy and please let me know what you think! The feedback helps immensely, so thank you!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Saturday morning, Mercedes awoke to find Quinn already up and out of their shared room. She changed out of her pajamas into a t-shirt and yoga pants and decided to skip showering for now, knowing she would want to take one after they got back from the spa anyway.</p><p>In the kitchen, she found Lauren and Tina at the countertop bar with cups of coffee.</p><p>"Please tell me there's more of that?" Mercedes said, gesturing at the coffee mugs and Tina nodded, pointing across the kitchen to the coffeemaker on the opposite counter.</p><p>"Mugs in the cabinet above," Lauren added.</p><p>"Thank you," Mercedes said as she poured a cup and set about doctoring it with cream and sugar.</p><p>"Thought you weren't supposed to drink coffee when you're pregnant?" she said idly to Tina as she stirred.</p><p>"Basically a cup of coffee or a soda in a day aren't a huge deal," Tina said. "They even told me I should drink like, a venti espresso or something when I go for the sex ultrasound in a few weeks, to get them moving around and more likely to see their parts."</p><p>"Wow," Lauren commented. "Who knew?"</p><p>Tina rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, the ridiculous list of rules for pregnant women. Don't do this, make sure you do that, don't eat that, do this or your baby will be deformed. It's exhausting."</p><p>"Yeah, I've heard, that's why I'm in no hurry to do it," Mercedes laughed.</p><p>"Sometimes, you don't get a choice," Tina cracked. "We weren't exactly trying. But we got careless a few times, so…I guess we weren't exactly not trying either – and, well, shit happens."</p><p>"But you seem happy about it?" Lauren queried and Tina laughed.</p><p>"Well, I mean, now, yeah. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled now. But I was scared shitless the first couple of weeks and part of me still is. But when we went to the first appointment and heard the heartbeat and all that – "</p><p>"Let me guess," Mercedes said, smiling. "You cried."</p><p>"Duh," Tina grinned back at her. "Mike did too though, I'll have you know."</p><p>Mercedes smiled. "Match made in heaven," she said before asking, "So where's everyone else?"</p><p>"Our hostesses have yet to emerge from their room and I don't know about either of you, but I'm not going in to see if they're awake or not," Tina said and Lauren and Mercedes nodded in agreement.</p><p>"Rachel and Sugar are both still asleep and Quinn's out on the deck." Tina glanced at the clock. "It's only 8:30 and I don't think we have to be at the spa till 10:30 or 11. The impression I got was that it's only about a five-minute drive from her, so we've got a little time.</p><p>Nodding, Mercedes picked up her coffee mug and headed for the back door. "Think I'll sit outside for a while." She wanted to see if there was any sign of their neighbors yet.</p><p>Lauren and Tina nodded, resuming their conversation as Mercedes stepped out onto the deck.</p><p>"Morning," she said to Quinn, who smiled back at her.</p><p>"Remind me to ask Sam how the hell he shares a bed with you and ever gets any comfortable sleep," she complained good-naturedly.</p><p>"What?" Mercedes as she sat down at the table.</p><p>Quinn laughed. "You're a total bed hog. I woke up clinging to the very edge of the mattress on my side."</p><p>"Oh, yeah," Mercedes said sheepishly. "I should have warned you. Sam does complain sometimes but he's also learned to just shove me back over to my side when he needs to. Or sometimes he'll climb over me and sleep on my side, if I've rolled too far to his." She laughed. "He's only woken up on the floor once."</p><p>Quinn shook her head. "He's tall too - how did you ever manage in tiny dorm room beds when you'd visit each other in college?"</p><p>"Very carefully," Mercedes replied with a grin.</p><p>"Anyway," Quinn said, gesturing at the other house in their little cove. "Seems we have neighbors. I saw a couple guys go down to the dock and take a boat out."</p><p>"Oh? Do they look interesting?" Mercedes asked, smiling into her coffee cup as she took a sip.</p><p>Quinn shrugged. "Don't know yet. Couldn't see their faces and to be honest, I wasn't really looking that closely."</p><p>"Gotcha," Mercedes said, gazing across the space between the two houses. "Well, maybe there's more of them. Maybe one of them is single," she joked and Quinn just shook her head.</p><p>As if on cue, the back door opened and two men walked out onto their deck. Mercedes squinted across the yards. Yup, that was definitely Sam in the ball cap and judging by the height difference and dark hair, Blaine was standing beside him.</p><p>"See, there <em>are</em> more of them," Mercedes said, trying to keep from grinning.</p><p>Quinn shook her head again, clearly amused by her friend.</p><p>"You haven't even really looked over there, Quinn. The one in the baseball cap looks nice from behind."</p><p>Quinn laughed. "Excuse me? Mrs. Married Lady is checking out a random neighbor vacationer?"</p><p>Mercedes laughed. "It's no crime to look," she protested, glancing over again. "Besides, he reminds me of Sam. Same build. I guess I have a type," she said innocently.</p><p>Quinn finally turned to really look then and, with the different angle she was sitting at, she could see Sam's face pretty clearly and she turned back to Mercedes and now she was the one trying not to laugh. "A type, my ass. You have one 'type' and you're married to it <em>and</em> you knew that was him, didn't you?"</p><p>Mercedes nodded, smiling. "But, I swear, I did not know this was where they were coming until last night. He kept talking about a cabin in the Smokies – I thought they were going to be in the actual national park, like Maggie Valley or Bryson City. They were clearly planning a surprise."</p><p>"Did he cave and tell you?"</p><p>"No. I saw his car parked in front of the house when we got back last night. Texted him and he confessed. I told him Santana better not make me a widow over this."</p><p>"Do you really think she's gonna be pissed? I mean, God knows they can work anyone's nerves, especially as a group, but she loves those dummies too," Quinn mused.</p><p>"I figure she'll give them hell for about five minutes and then get over it," Mercedes agreed.</p><p>She stood up and walked over to the deck rail, leaning over it to call out, "Fancy meeting you guys here!"</p><p>Sam looked up, grinning sheepishly as he waved at her while Blaine just grinned as he turned to look at them.</p><p>"Mercedes! Hi! Hey, Quinn!" he called as Quinn stood up to stand beside Mercedes.</p><p>"Surprise!" Sam added and Mercedes shook her head.</p><p>"I'm going over there," Quinn declared, heading down the steps. Mercedes started to follow her, but then turned and opened the back door, sticking her head inside to say to Tina and Lauren, "Hey, ladies, we've got neighbors. You should come check them out." She didn't wait for an answer before closing the door and following Quinn over to the other deck, where Sam and Blaine were already greeting her with hugs.</p><p>"Missed you last night," Sam said to Mercedes as he gave her a quick kiss hello and she rolled her eyes in response.</p><p>"Hey, I offered to cuddle with you, dude," Puck said, having heard him as he came out of the house.</p><p>"Not quite the same, bro."</p><p>Mercedes pointed a finger at Puck. "Quit trying to steal my man, Puckerman."</p><p>Puck grinned as he swooped her into a hug. "He can't be stolen, you know that. Not by me or anyone else." He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone. "But I do think he was hoping you'd sneak over once you realized we were here."</p><p>Mercedes shot her husband a 'seriously?' look as he shrugged and said "I would've kicked Puck out of the room if you had."</p><p>"Oh, okay then."</p><p>"Well, damn," Puck complained. "Where's the fun in that? For me, I mean?"</p><p>Mercedes laughed. "If I am sneaking around between houses in the dark in the woods, I'm pretty sure your fun is the last thing I'm worried about."</p><p>"Burn," Puck said cheerfully before turning to greet Quinn. "Hey, Q," he said, kissing her cheek, and she smiled at him.</p><p>"What do you mean, we need to check out the neighbors?" Tina was demanding as she and Laruen came out onto the other deck.</p><p>"Hey! It's our new baby mama!" Puck said happily. "Get over here!"</p><p>"I guess Mike told you guys the news?" Mercedes said and Sam nodded.</p><p>"Oh, yeah. He's so proud and happy he could bust."</p><p>Quinn smiled at that, although there was the faintest tinge of sadness in it. "It's nice to have a glee pregnancy that everyone's excited about," she said quietly and Mercedes shot her a sympathetic smile. "And it's kind of nice to not be the only one that's been pregnant anymore," she added in a louder tone of voice. "It's about time one of the rest of you got knocked up."</p><p>"Yeah," Tina said as she and Lauren reached the other deck. "You know you've been waiting for years to be our guru." Quinn laughed as Tina continued speaking, "But seriously, I would like to talk to you at some point this weekend. And I will probably be calling you these next few months."</p><p>Quinn smiled. "I can't promise it'll be helpful, but I am happy to impart all the sixteen-year-old wisdom that I have."</p><p>Things kind of devolved into chaos at that point as Mike and Artie came out of the house to join the group and there were hugs and greetings all around and more congratulations for Mike and Tina.</p><p>"I guess it was Finn and Kurt who went off in the canoe?" Quinn wondered.</p><p>"Yeah, something about brother bonding time," Blaine said with a smile.</p><p>Quinn and Mercedes both noticed Puck and Lauren being studiously careful about their interactions and Quinn sighed. "I'm going to tell him later," she muttered to Mercedes. "It's stupid."</p><p>She nodded as on her other side, Sam caught the tale end of her words and raised his eyebrows at Mercedes. She inclined her head towards Puck and Sam nodded.</p><p>"I didn't say anything," she whispered to him. "She figured it out."</p><p>Sam couldn't help but grin. "Like she figured us out way back when," he whispered back. "She's good at that."</p><p>That was true, Mercedes had to admit. The first time she and Sam had started dating, after junior prom, she'd been so nervous to tell Quinn, her former best friend, Sam's ex-girlfriend. Instead, when they'd finally come clean, Quinn had just laughed and told them she'd been wondering when they would finally admit it.</p><p>Mercedes snapped out of her remembrance and the general joyful atmosphere suddenly came to a halt at the sound of the voice that came from the upper deck of the girls' house. Santana was standing there, glaring down at all of them.</p><p>"Hey. What the hell is going on down there?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You idiots weren't supposed to reveal yourselves until this afternoon!" Santana continued, clearly annoyed but also sounding as though she were not surprised by this turn of events.</p><p>Sam glanced briefly at both Mercedes and the other guys before turning back to Santana. "Mercedes saw my car last night and called me on it," he explained. "I figured she told you all?"</p><p>Santana shook her head. "Way to throw Mrs. Trouty under the bus, man."</p><p>Mercedes looked back and forth between Sam and Santana, thoroughly confused as to what the hell was happening, before finally addressing Sam. "Of course I didn't tell her or anyone else. First of all, the last I saw of her last night, she was drunk and making out with Brittany, so, no. Not a good time for a conversation. Particularly one that, as you might recall from our texts, I was afraid would end in your death?"</p><p>Sam looked chagrinned, as did the rest of the guys, while the women all had confused looks of varying degrees on their faces.</p><p>"Oh my God," Santana finally said, stomping down the steps to the lower deck. "Surprise, ladies! The guys are here too! This was always going to be a whole glee family party, they just made themselves known too early." She glared at Sam. "Or didn't think about the fact that one of the ladies might recognize a car that also technically belongs to her?"</p><p>"No," Sam said, shaking his head. "I didn't think about that."</p><p>"Useless. Absolutely useless accomplices. I will keep this in mind if I ever need to hide a body one day," Santana huffed.</p><p>"Okay, wait, back up," Tina said. "How in the world did the guys convince you to let them crash this weekend?"</p><p>"Pfft," Santana said. "They didn't. I invited them."</p><p>"But I thought you really wanted this to be a girl bonding thing?" Quinn asked, sounding as confused as they all still looked.</p><p>"Okay, here's the deal," Santana said. "Yes, I wanted us to have a chance to hang out, just the girls. But I also wanted us to be able to all have some fun, all of us together. Because the wedding's going to have my work people and Britt's dance people and my parents' friends and like, random third cousins and shit. I wanted to celebrate our wedding with just the people who really know us." She shrugged. "So I found this place, with both houses and here we are." She gave Sam and Mike coolly appraising glances. "I have to say, I am impressed that none of the husbands spilled the beans."</p><p>Mercedes and Tina did not look quite as pleased about this.</p><p>"It was supposed to be more of an elaborate surprise when you guys got back from the spa this afternoon," Mike explained. "But when Sam got Mercedes' text last night – yeah. We all figured you all knew and that we didn't need to stay inside until after you left this morning." He directed apologetic glances at both his wife and Santana. "I'm sorry about that."</p><p>"Ugh. It's whatever at this point – what's done is done," Santana said, waving a dismissive hand. "Listen, we need to leave in about fifteen minutes, so say your goodbyes. The boys can do whatever the hell they were planning to do today and we'll be back this afternoon. And everything better be ready to go for tonight when we get here!"</p><p>And she turned and marched back to the other house.</p><p>The nine people left standing on the deck just kind of looked at each other for a few moments before Blaine broke the silence.</p><p>"So, um, I'm going to go down to the dock to make sure Kurt and Finn get updated right away when they come off the lake," Blaine said, before hurrying away.</p><p>"I'm gonna go get my shoes on and make sure Sugar's awake. Berry too, I guess," Lauren said before she turned and went back up the stairs to the girls' house.</p><p>Quinn waited until Lauren had disappeared into the house before turning to Puck, laying a hand on his arm. "Listen, can we talk for just a minute?"</p><p>Puck looked wary but nodded. "Yeah, we can go inside?"</p><p>"Oh, good," Artie chimed in. "You can let me in the house – it's kind of awkward trying to do it by myself. I'll go to my room," he quickly added, "I'm not going to listen in."</p><p>This left the two married couples on the deck. Tina looked at Mercedes.</p><p>"Well, what do you think?" Tina asked. "Do we give them hell about this?"</p><p>Mercedes grinned. "Or do we recognize that while we don't really like having been lied to, we recognize that it was a lie perpetuated to actually spend more time with us? A good intentions lie, so to speak?"</p><p>Both men looked encouraged by this statement.</p><p>"And also that you generally don't say no to Santana Lopez when she tells you to do something?" Tina added.</p><p>"There is definitely that to factor in," Mercedes agreed, reaching for Sam's hand as Tina did the same to Mike and the other couple started walking away.</p><p>"I'm gonna wait for Quinn," Mercedes said to Tina, who nodded as she headed up the stairs and Mike went down to the dock to chat with Blaine.</p><p>Mercedes turned back to Sam, who was still holding her hand. "Forgiven?" he asked tentatively and she rolled her eyes.</p><p>"I guess so." She shook her head. "Why didn't you go ahead and tell me all of that last night?"</p><p>"Too much to text?" Sam offered, knowing it was a lame reason. "No, really, I figured I'd tell you this morning, but I just didn't get the chance before Santana saw us all. I'm sorry."</p><p>"It's fine," Mercedes said, shrugging. "Really. Life's too short for me to spend all day being pissed about something like this. You guys wanted to surprise us. Or, well, I guess Santana wanted us surprised, but whatever. It's all good."</p><p>Sam smiled and pulled her into a hug. He hadn't really thought she'd be overly upset but now he could fully look forward to a fun day with the guys and a fun evening with his wife and their oldest friends.</p><p>Mercedes was still leaning into Sam's side when the back door opened and Quinn stepped out, stopping short as she saw Sam and Mercedes still standing there. "Oh – "</p><p>"Everything okay?" Mercedes said gently and Quinn nodded.</p><p>"Yeah – I'll –" she hesitated and Mercedes quickly gave Sam a kiss before coming over to loop Quinn's arm in hers, the two of them heading back to the girls' house after saying goodbye to Sam.</p><p>"Really, everything's okay?" Mercedes asked quietly as they walked up the stairs and Quinn nodded again.</p><p>"Yeah. I told him that I know and I'm happy for them. He said they're not necessarily keeping it lowkey just for my sake, but it was part of it, so I think he's glad I know." Quinn sighed. "We both know we'll always be linked to each other. But we also both know that we've always been better as friends, so at least we've got that."</p><p>Mercedes nodded, leaning over to give her friend a quick hug. "You're really one of the toughest ladies I know," she said. "I'm proud of you."</p><p>Quinn gave her a faint smile. "Proud of me too," she admitted. "And definitely ready for my massage and all the other pampering!"</p><p>Mercedes was definitely ready for that too. They'd all been booked for a full package at the nearby spa down the road from the hotel where some of Dirty Dancing had been filmed. Massages, facials, mani-pedis and lunch awaited the group of women.</p><p>They all piled into the Escalade, Tina automatically driving again for some reason. It was funny, Mercedes thought idly, how quickly they fell into patterns.</p><p>Like forgetting to tell Rachel things.</p><p>Santana had taken one look at Rachel, dressed uncharacteristically frumpy in a t-shirt and gym shorts, hair in a messy bun and sunglasses on, and cackled, "Guess no one told you that Finn is here, did they?"</p><p>To her credit, Rachel had initially responded rationally with "We're <em>married</em>, Santana. He's seen me first thing in the morning before" before Santana's words had caught up to her brain and she stared at her in confusion. "Wait, what?"</p><p>"Just get in the car," Mercedes had said with a sigh. "I'll explain."</p><p>Luckily, it was a short drive to the spa and there wasn't time for an argument before they arrived. With four treatments and eight women, they were split off in groups of two to cycle through the day and not overwhelm any one or two employees of the spa. They would finish with a late lunch on the outdoor dining patio overlooking this part of the lake.</p><p>Mercedes found herself paired off with Santana but they started with facials and then moved on to massages, so they were in different rooms to begin with. They met back up at the manicure tables and then moved to the pedicure chairs, chatting idly and waxing poetic about how relaxed they felt.</p><p>"I swear," Santana said lazily, "Anything ever happens to Brittany, I'm coming back to find Simone."</p><p>Mercedes snorted. "Off of one massage? Really?"</p><p>Santana made a face at her. "Oh, whatever. You know what I mean."</p><p>Their pedicures finished, the nail tech told them they could go ahead to the patio while their toes dried. Lunch wouldn't be served until all the ladies were ready to join them, but there was champagne waiting, so, carrying their shoes, they headed out to the patio to wait for everyone else.</p><p>"So," Santana said conversationally, as they got settled in their seats, "Is married sex really so bad and boring?"</p><p>Mercedes stared at her, dumbstruck for a minute. "I'm sorry, what?"</p><p>Santana grinned. "You heard me."</p><p>"Didn't we already have this conversation last night, basically?"</p><p>Santana shrugged. "You weren't very forthcoming. I may have been drunk, but I remember that."</p><p>"Lord," Mercedes snapped as she leaned forward towards Santana, irritated, "What do you want to hear from me, Santana? That sometimes the man can make me forget my own name? That you can make fun and call him Trouty Mouth all you want but I do not care, because what he does to me with that mouth is freakin' magic? Are those the kinds of things you want to know?" She sank back into her chair, arms crossed over her chest and already somewhat regretting her words, her face burning, although she did note with some satisfaction that Santana appeared to be struck speechless, at least momentarily.</p><p>"Well," Santana finally said. "Okay, then, Trouty gets it done. Noted. Why is it such a big deal for you to talk about it with your friends?"</p><p>Mercedes sighed. "I don't know. I guess, just – you know, Sam and I - we both fall pretty heavily on the old-fashioned, traditional side of things. Our sex life isn't bad or boring, it's just – it's <em>ours</em>. Mine and his. And I don't feel like there's anyone else that really needs to know too much about it, I guess."</p><p>Santana considered this for a moment before nodding. "I guess that makes sense." She tilted her head, studying Mercedes for a moment. "Something else I've been wondering about – in regards to the traditional thing - "</p><p>Mercedes shook her head resignedly. "No, we don't only do it missionary style, okay?"</p><p>Santana burst out laughing. "That is not at all where I was going with the question – but okay. Look at you, sharing information unprompted."</p><p>"Jesus," Mercedes groaned, face flushing again. "I just can't win with you."</p><p>"Nope," Santana said cheerfully. "Anyway, what I was actually wondering is whether the traditionalist thing is why you took his name?"</p><p>Mercedes blinked, a little surprised by this shift in conversation. "I guess so, yeah. Why?"</p><p>Santana shrugged. "I don't know. It's just, you were always the loudest of all of us about not needing a man or whatever and yet you're the only straight, married woman in this group who's changed your last name."</p><p>"Huh," Mercedes said. "I'd never really thought about it like that, but I guess you're right." Then she laughed. "Although I could see Tina doing a triple hyphen thing if Mike's last name wasn't already the same as her second name."</p><p>Santana snorted. "I personally think being Tina Cohen-Chang-Chang would be highly entertaining, but to each their own."</p><p>Mercedes laughed. "It really kind of would be, wouldn't it?" She looked down at her freshly manicured hands, realized she hadn't put her wedding and engagement rings back on yet and pulled them out of her pocket to do that, studying them for a minute before looking back at Santana. "Anyway, yeah. The name change. I know it's really, like, throw-backy or whatever, but there's a part of me that just really likes being Mrs. Evans, the Evanses, and knowing it's official or legal or whatever. Especially for when we have kids eventually." She shrugged. "I guess in some ways it's no different than getting married versus just living together."</p><p>Santana contemplated this. "Maybe so."</p><p>"Also, I still maintain I don't necessarily <em>need</em> a man," Mercedes went on to say. "I fully believe I could make it on my own. But I <em>want</em> the man I have. I don't know quite how to explain it, but I feel like there's a difference. It's a conscious choice to be with him, not something I have to do." She smiled at Santana. "You should understand that – you and Brittany have been making a conscious choice to be together for years. In so many ways, getting married isn't going to change that."</p><p>Santana nodded, looking contemplative. Mercedes watched her for a minute, suddenly feeling like maybe she could be a little more understanding. She could remember the feelings, the emotional upheavals in the months before her own wedding. Even having been together as long as she and Sam had, there were still those moments of wondering if they were doing the right thing, tying themselves to each other forever, wondering if marriage would change their relationship. In her own, uniquely Santana-ish way, maybe Santana was asking her for advice and reassurance about her own upcoming wedding.</p><p>"Marriage does change things a little," Mercedes said quietly, putting a hand over Santana's. "But mostly in a good way. I promise." She smiled. "I'll admit, our first fight after the wedding felt like the end of the world. I don't even remember what we fought about, but I remember thinking, oh my God, I am legally stuck with this moron forever."</p><p>Santana couldn't help laughing at that. "I mean, I'd say that every day if I were married to Trouty, but – "</p><p>"You hush up, I love that moron," Mercedes interrupted her, grinning. "Anyway, that eventually led to, okay, how are we going to work through this? Because we are stuck together, but we want to be stuck together, so we gotta work together. Some days are harder than others, but the good days? Man, they make the bad days so worth it."</p><p>Santana smiled softly. "At the end of the day, there's no one you'd rather come home to, right?"</p><p>Mercedes nodded. "Yeah." Movement on the far side of the patio caught her attention then and she looked over to see Rachel and Lauren headed their way. "Listen – the things I said at the beginning of this conversation – can you please not repeat them? I know you live to tease, but – that was all just really personal and - "</p><p>Santana nodded. "I tease, but I'm not cruel," she said quietly. "I know I must have really gotten you riled up for you to confess the things you did. And, you know, I appreciate the other stuff you said, about marriage in general."</p><p>They smiled at each other and then Santana turned her attention to the other two women approaching, Tina and Sugar and Brittany and Quinn not far behind them. "Alright ladies – let me see nail colors!"</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the car pulled into the cove's driveway, Mercedes clicked her phone off and stuffed it in her pocket. She'd texted Sam when they left the spa to let him know they were on their way back – she had no idea what Santana's expectations were for the guys to have done before their return, but she figured it fell somewhere under the 'for better or worse' part of their wedding vows to give him the heads up. She'd then aimlessly scrolled through her phone for the rest of the drive, smiling when she received back, in quick succession, a thumbs up emoji and then a 'see you soon' and then a kissy-face emoji from her husband.</p><p>"I need a shower," Quinn said as they headed into the house and Mercedes nodded.</p><p>"Me too."</p><p>"You go ahead," Quinn said as they reached their shared room. "I don't mind a little extra time avoiding – everything."</p><p>Mercedes studied her for a minute. "You're really sure you're okay?"</p><p>Quinn nodded. "I really am, I promise. I feel like this weekend is a turning point for me, in some weird way. I just – need a little time to gather myself before the evening's festivities."</p><p>Mercedes nodded and went to get her things to take into the bathroom and get herself ready for the night.</p><p>Feeling much more refreshed and awake after her shower, Mercedes headed out of the house through the back door and surveyed the scene. Tina and Santana were in a quiet conversation at the table on the deck while Puck, Mike and Finn were goofing around in the lake. Rachel, Lauren and Artie were sitting on the dock with their feet in the water. She knew Quinn was in their room and it seemed that Sugar, Brittany, Sam, Kurt and Blaine were nowhere to be seen. She headed down the steps and once she reached the shared landing, she could see what Santana had been expecting from the guys.</p><p>The patio area now had two long tables set up and ready for dinner. The bar area was fully stocked and prepped – Santana must have bought practically an entire ABC store – and if Mercedes had opened the fridge, she would have found all the food ready for dinner – things just needed to be heated up. The guys had been responsible for accepting all the deliveries and getting the tables ready for the evening. There was even a fire already laid in the fire pit, just waiting to be lit.</p><p>"Well, you're not wearing a cowboy hat or a giant belt buckle, so Nashville hasn't fully corrupted you yet, I suppose."</p><p>Mercedes laughed as Kurt came up beside her and gave her a hug. "You know there's more to Nashville than just country music, right?"</p><p>"Such as?"</p><p>Mercedes thought for a moment and then grinned. "Such as more gospel music is recorded there than anywhere else in the world."</p><p>Kurt wrinkled his nose. "Darling, that isn't really a selling point for me either, you know."</p><p>"I know, why do you think I picked that stat?" Mercedes joked and Kurt just shook his head.</p><p>"Anyway, it's so great to see you. I really can't believe you guys all kept this a secret all summer."</p><p>Kurt smiled, pleased. "I know. I'm especially proud of Finn and Mike and Sam."</p><p>"I'm not sure if I should be proud of Sam or worried that it was apparently so easy to lie to me," Mercedes said, only half-seriously, and Kurt rolled his eyes.</p><p>"Please. That boy would never be able to lie to you about something truly important. And really. Did he ever actually lie about this or did he just not tell you all the details?"</p><p>"Yeah, I know."</p><p>Their conversation was interrupted then by Santana informing them all when dinner would be served and threatening the boys in the lake with death if they didn't get out and get dressed in time. The three of them dispersed and Kurt went to say hello to Tina while Mercedes settled herself on one of the outdoor sofas, content to just sit quietly on her own for a little bit, people-watching, observing the movements of her friends.</p><p>She wasn't really sure how long she'd been sitting there when a shadow fell across her lap and Mercedes looked up to see Sam standing there, beer bottle in one hand, Solo cup in the other and she smiled.</p><p>"I hope one of those is for me," she said and he turned the cup so she could see that 'Mrs. Trouty' was written on it in Sharpie.</p><p>"Courtesy of Santana," he said, sitting down beside her and Mercedes just shook her head, glancing behind her to see Santana, Puck and Blaine by the bar, Santana sticking her tongue out at her when she saw her looking in their direction. "Rum and Coke," he added as he handed her the cup.</p><p>"Mmm, thank you. You're the best husband ever," she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek.</p><p>Sam made a face. "I better be your only husband ever."</p><p>She made a face back at him. "Obviously," she said as she took a sip of her drink, coughing a little bit at the strength of it. "Jesus," she sputtered. "Try mostly rum. IS there actually any Coke in there?"</p><p>Sam laughed. "Yeah, Santana's goal is to get as many of us as possible, and I quote, 'shit faced as hell.'"</p><p>Mercedes laughed in response. "I just might do that. I didn't actually drink much last night. I felt bad for Tina automatically having to DD." She looked lost in thought for a moment and then shook her head. "It's crazy, isn't it? Them having a baby? How your life can just change in an instant like that?"</p><p>"It's pretty wild," Sam agreed.</p><p>"I just kind of can't believe it, that they're having a baby. That just seems, like, SO adult, right? Like, yeah, we're married, a bunch of us are and that's adult, but a baby? That's a whole other level."</p><p>"Yeah," Sam said in agreement again and they fell into companionable silence for a few minutes before suddenly, from Sam –</p><p>"Do you want to have a baby now? Like, get pregnant soon?"</p><p>Unfortunately, he waited to ask this while Mercedes was taking another sip of her drink and the conversation was paused for a moment while she worked on not choking to death.</p><p>"Do I want to <em>what</em>?" she finally managed to say, continuing to speak before Sam could get his mouth open to answer. "No! No, no, no."</p><p>"Geez, okay," Sam replied, looking the slightest bit hurt, and she hastened to elaborate, putting her hand on his arm.</p><p>"I don't mean, no, never, you know that," she said. "I mean, no, not right now. What, just because Mike and Tina are, you thought – "</p><p>He looked sheepish now and maybe even just a tiny bit relieved. "Well, I mean – we got engaged a few months after them, our wedding was a few months after theirs, and you looked like you were really lost in thought when I first saw you sitting here so I didn't know if -"</p><p>"Oh. Okay," Mercedes said slowly. "It makes a lot more sense that you would think that when you look at it that way. But, no. I'm not ready for that. Are you?"</p><p>Sam shook his head. "Not really. But if you were, then, I mean, we could talk about it, you know?"</p><p>"Yeah. I know," Mercedes said, shifting on the couch so that she was sitting with her back to the armrest and bringing her legs up to drape across his lap. "I promise, when I'm ready to have a baby, or even think about having a baby, you will be the first person to know."</p><p>"Deal. Same."</p><p>"You really are the best husband ever."</p><p>"As long as I'm the best husband for you, I don't care about anything else," Sam said as he leaned over to kiss her, his hand trailing up her thigh.</p><p>"Okay, okay, enough of THAT." Santana was suddenly sitting down beside them on the couch and shaking her head. "You can do that at home, on your own time."</p><p>Mercedes looked at Sam and they both just rolled their eyes as pretty much everyone started drifting over to the patio area.</p><p>"Okay, okay," Rachel said. "Now before we eat or get too drunk, we girls have prepared a little something for our brides. Is this acceptable to you, Santana?"</p><p>Santana waved a hand. "I suppose I'll allow it. But I reserve the right to be judgey."</p><p>"Jesus," Mercedes muttered to Tina as she took her place beside her and the music for The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" started.</p><p>Rachel had insisted on the song, due to its placement on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, but Mercedes had to admit it kind of fit Brittany and Santana pretty well. And they seemed to appreciate it, so maybe the Zoom rehearsals hadn't been such a pain in the ass after all.</p><p>"Fine, that was pretty great, you guys. Thank you," Santana said at song's end and Brittany piped up in agreement that it was awesome.</p><p>"Well, you may or may not have seen this coming, but we guys have worked up a little something as well," Kurt said.</p><p>"We weren't able to rehearse as a full group until last night, since Sam would have gotten us busted on a video call," Blaine added, "But I think it's all right overall."</p><p>"Sorry guys," Sam said as he got up to join the rest of the guys. "But if you didn't all live in the same city, Finn and Mike would be equally to blame here."</p><p>Santana suddenly whirled around to glare at them all. "Don't anyone DARE tell Mr. Schue that we did boys versus girls without him telling us to, okay?"</p><p>There was laughter at that statement, even as Santana focused in on Rachel. "I mean it, Berry. Do not give that man the satisfaction."</p><p>"Okay, anyway," Kurt said, clapping his hands a couple times and drawing the attention back to the group of men. "We had a little advantage, in that we knew what your song selection was, so here is our companion piece."</p><p>And with that, they launched into Bruce Channel's "Hey Baby," also from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and also pretty well suited to Santana and Brittany.</p><p>The highlight came on the second chorus when Mike and Blaine started doing the choreography from the tree-bridge scene of the movie. This of course led to Brittany jumping out of her seat and pulling Santana up to dance with her. And then Sam went for Mercedes, Finn for Rachel, Kurt for Tina, Puck for Lauren and Artie waved Quinn and Sugar both over to him, all of them laughing and dancing until the song ended and Santana declared it time for dinner.</p><p>Once dinner was completed, the fire in the pit was lit and an iPad and speakers appeared from somewhere, a playlist ready to go, and the party really kicked off.</p><p>"SAM?! Did you sneak country onto this playlist?" Santana yelled when Kenny Chesney's "American Kids" came on and Sam ducked away from her.</p><p>"Yes! But just wait for the chorus! It totally makes fun of Kurt and Blaine!"</p><p>Santana narrowed her eyes at him but waited it out for Sam (and Puck) to sing along with 'we were Teenage Dreamin', front seat leanin', baby, come give me a kiss' to which Kurt and Blaine looked at each other and on the second chorus, ran up to kiss Puck and Sam on their cheeks, much to everyone's amusement.</p><p>At some point, "We are Young" came on and Quinn started yelling something about didn't they remember that she had gotten the girls back to Glee Club but high school wasn't the best times of their lives after all, the best times were whenever they were all together and then the song changed to "This One's for the Girls" and Quinn was happily singing along, so who knows how much she'd had to drink?</p><p>Mercedes had no idea, especially since she didn't even know how much she herself had had to drink, but she knew it had to have been a lot when TLC's "Way Back" came on and she found herself scream-singing with Santana 'but you still my BITCH, can't tell us nothin.'</p><p>So it was quite a party.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>What is this - two updates in less than 24 hours? OMG! It's because this next part has been written for quite some time and it's one of my favorite parts of the whole story, especially the conversation between Sam and Santana. And if I don't go ahead and post it, I'll just keep editing it like a crazy person. So anyway - enjoy and please let me know what you think! The comments keep me motivated - thank you so much!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Your woman is wasted."</p><p>This pronouncement came from Santana as she dropped onto the couch beside Sam, where he was taking a break. He followed her gaze to where Mercedes was dancing with Brittany and Sugar, all three of them laughing as they shimmied and spun together, their bare feet kicking up sand as they did.</p><p>"So is yours," Sam replied mildly. "Probably about what? Three sips away from her shirt coming off?"</p><p>"You wish," Santana cracked. Her voice turned speculative. "Or you wish Mercedes would drink enough to take her shirt off."</p><p>Sam shook his head, knowing she didn't really mean either statement. "Nah. She'll dance her ass off all night long, but the clothes aren't going anywhere in front of other people." He grinned, giving his statement a little more thought before continuing, "Honestly, probably not going anywhere at all tonight. She's drunk enough that she's gonna pass out before anything comes off."</p><p>"Too bad for you, I guess," Santana laughed, looking over at the group of women again before glancing back at Sam. "You really love her, don't you?"</p><p>The question took Sam a little by surprise. Five years of dating, another year living together and now more than two years married – the obvious answer was yes. He looked over at Santana. "At least as much as you love Britt," he finally replied. "If not more."</p><p>"Not possible."</p><p>"So, we'll call it even then."</p><p>"It's scary, right? To love someone that much?" Santana almost seemed to be thinking out loud and Sam wasn't sure if she really expected an answer to her question or not.</p><p>"Sometimes," he finally said and Santana nodded.</p><p>Sam shifted on the couch to face her, really look at her. "What's this about, Santana? You getting cold feet?"</p><p>Santana shook her head. "Of course not. Not about marrying Brittany anyway, but, I don't know, maybe just marriage in general. It just feels – so big. Especially for us. It's only been a few years that it's even been legal everywhere."</p><p>Sam nodded, looking pensive. "Yeah, I get that. Did you know barely fifty years ago it wouldn't have been legal everywhere for me to marry Mercedes, either?"</p><p>"God," Santana grumbled. "It's such bullshit. Why can't the government just let people do what the fuck they want to do, as long as it's not harming anyone else?"</p><p>"Your mouth to God's ears," Sam agreed. "Anyway, yeah. Marriage is big. And it isn't necessarily easy, but it is worth it."</p><p>"Of course you'd say that," Santana said, grinning wickedly. "You had to marry her if you ever wanted to get laid."</p><p>Sam just shook his head. "You know that's not true."</p><p>Santana laughed. "Yeah, I know," she conceded, looking contemplative. "So – you're glad you got married?"</p><p>"Of course I am," Sam said, looking back over at his wife, a smile playing across his lips as he watched her move to the music, dancing with Rachel and Tina now, before he looked back at Santana and said, "At our wedding, once we signed that certificate and said the vows and put the rings on and all, I just remember thinking, like, holy <em>shit</em>, she's my <em>wife</em> now. I know it's a little cheesy and corny and you're probably going to give me shit about it for years, but like – there's just so much power in that word – wife - it's just, it's everything."</p><p>Santana grinned at him. "You're right, I am gonna give you shit about that. You're so whipped."</p><p>Sam shrugged. "Like you're not?"</p><p>Santana narrowed her eyes at him but let the comment slide, knowing it wasn't worth the argument, seeing as he was pretty much right.</p><p>"Look," Sam said, his eyes still on Mercedes, "the bottom line is that marrying her is the smartest thing I've ever done. Everything is better knowing she's my partner, she's got my back and I've got hers and even if we fight about stupid shit, neither one of us is going anywhere, we'll figure it out. She's my other half. And," he added, unable to resist throwing in a mild impression and modifying the Sweet Home Alabama line just a bit, "I like being able to kiss her any time I want." He turned back to look at Santana. "I really do hope that's how you feel about Britt."</p><p>Santana rolled her eyes even as she also nodded and reached out to pat Sam's cheek. "Thanks, Trouty. You're my favorite ex-boyfriend, you know."</p><p>Sam laughed. "Because I'm the only one you didn't have to pretend to enjoy having sex with."</p><p>Santana considered this. "That's – really not wrong actually," she conceded with a laugh.</p><p>"Thanks for letting us 'crash' your party," Sam added.</p><p>"Whatever," Santana said. "You dumbasses are my family, whether I like it or not. Besides, any party that involves Blaine Warbler's inability to hold his liquor is practically a guaranteed good time."</p><p>Sam glanced over at where Blaine was dancing with abandon with – or really more around – Kurt and had to agree. A cheer went up then and they both looked over to see that, while Brittany was still wearing her shirt, the buttons had been completely undone. This phased no one at this point in their long years of friendship.</p><p>Santana laughed and stood up. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I guess. Dance, Trouty?" she said and Sam stood up.</p><p>"Ah, why not?" he agreed as they joined the group in the sand, nearly everyone out there now, and Mercedes' eyes lit up as she reached for Sam's hand, pulling him into the joyful mix.</p><p>They all had just enough musical training to be at least decent dancers, although of course Mike and Brittany were still the best of the bunch.</p><p>Everyone danced with each other – all of them mixing and mingling through the fast-moving dance songs – "Uptown Funk" slid into "Hey Ya!" into "Last Friday Night" into "Get Lucky" and they all kept moving, hair flying, arms waving, having an absolute blast. They danced in a big group for a long while, but as the music slowed down to older songs like the Beach Boys and "God Only Knows" and then Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," the couples drifted together and then people started calling it a night. Tina and Mike slipped away first, headed towards the boys' house after a quick chat with Finn and Rachel, who bowed out soon after that and went up the steps to the girls' house after Finn helped Puck get Artie back up the steps to the boys' deck. Eventually it was only a few of them left by the fire, as the music turned again, a little raunchier, Bruno launching into "That's What I Like" and pretty soon it was impossible to tell where Santana stopped and Brittany began. Blaine was drunkenly grinding his ass against his husband, who admittedly didn't seem to mind at all. And Mercedes pressed herself against her husband, pulling his head down to hers for a searing kiss.</p><p>"You're so hot," she said breathlessly when they broke apart and Sam tried not to laugh. He knew where this was going and it was not where Mercedes, in her inebriated state, seemed to think it was going.</p><p>"Is that why you married me?" he teased and Mercedes grinned back at him.</p><p>"Mostly."</p><p>He did laugh then. "Tomorrow when you're sober, I'm gonna make sure to remind you that you said that."</p><p>"I'm not drunk," she protested, but when he took a step away from her, she was completely unsteady on her feet, swaying back and forth in front of him.</p><p>"Yeah-huh, sure you're not, honey" he said, wrapping his arm around her waist and steering her towards the steps. "C'mon, let's get you to bed."</p><p>Mercedes nodded, giggling, as they headed up the steps to the girls' house. "Ooh, yes. Let's go to bed," she said, pushing the back door open and pulling him through with her.</p><p>Damn, Sam thought to himself as they walked inside. He hadn't been in this house yet and it was definitely the nicer of the two in the cove.</p><p>"Baby, where is your room?" he asked and she waved her hand in the general direction of the back hallway. He was trying to speak quietly, not knowing if anyone else in the house was asleep yet or not, but he must have failed because he heard Quinn's voice coming from the second room. He supposed the blame wasn't all on him at least, since his wife couldn't stop giggling.</p><p>"Second door," she called out.</p><p>"Thanks," he said as they got to the room. Quinn was sitting on the bed in her pajamas, scrolling through her phone, and she looked up and smiled.</p><p>"She is so far gone," she whispered.</p><p>Sam grinned. "Yeah, I know," he whispered back, as he got Mercedes over to the end of the bed. She sat down and then crawled up to lay her head on her pillow, turning her head and blinking at Quinn.</p><p>"Hey," she said, patting Quinn's arm and then pointing at Sam. "That gorgeous man is my husband."</p><p>Quinn laughed as Sam rolled his eyes. "I know, sweetie," Quinn said gently. "I was at your wedding."</p><p>"Okay," Mercedes said. "I'm just making sure you know."</p><p>Quinn shook her head as Mercedes somehow got herself into a sitting position and reached her hand out towards Sam. "Aren't you going to stay here with me?"</p><p>Before he could attempt an answer, Mercedes added, "You need to stay here." Satisfied with her declaration, she laid back down on her side and literally within seconds, she was out cold. Which is exactly what Sam knew was going to happen. He could count on one hand – maybe both hands – the number of times Mercedes had been truly, <em>really</em> drunk in the years they'd known each other and it always ended the same way. She would get super touchy-feely and affectionate – and then as soon as he got her to lie down, she would be done for the night. He could admit that it had been a little disappointing the first time or two, but once he knew the pattern, he'd found the entertainment value in it. Honestly, even if she was just her more usual giggly, mildly tipsy, the fact that it was way too entertaining to watch Mercedes drink was probably the biggest reason why he never really drank more than a beer or two.</p><p>Sam looked at Quinn. "I'm so sorry."</p><p>Quinn laughed softly. "It's okay." She got up off the bed as she added, "You should stay with her. There's extra bunks upstairs, I can take one of those."</p><p>"Oh, no, I don't want to kick you out of your room," Sam protested, "That's not fair."</p><p>"Really, it's fine. I think a few other roommate switches have been made already." She grinned at him. "Besides, I don't want to be the first one she sees if she wakes up hungover and you're not here like she told you to be."</p><p>Sam had to admit she had a point. "Well – if you're sure…"</p><p>"I am," Quinn said, grabbing her phone and charger and heading towards the door.</p><p>"Thanks," he said quietly.</p><p>"No problem," she replied, patting his arm as she walked out of the room.</p><p>Sam sighed before kicking his shorts off and getting into bed in his t-shirt and underwear, working to get the sheet and bedspread out from under Mercedes and then pulling it back up over both of them. It took a little more maneuvering, but he managed to get her bra off too. Knowing that it was often the first thing she took off when getting home at night, he was reasonably sure she wouldn't be happy about sleeping in it.</p><p>Finally ready to lay down and go to sleep, Sam stopped for a minute and just looked at her, brushing some stray hair off her face. God, she was so beautiful. He still wasn't sure what lucky star he'd been born under, that she'd been his all these years – but he was so damn grateful.</p><p>He slid up behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing the tip of her ear, before muttering, "You're lucky I love you," even as he thought to himself that he was even luckier that she loved him and then closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And our weekend comes to an end. There is still an epilogue to come, as we've got to see at least a bit of the wedding! No idea when I'll get to that - I'm feeling all Christmass-y and have several ideas floating around for some holiday one-shots featuring my SIX!kids!Samcedes family. So be on the lookout for those! But I promise it will come eventually - I have at least 3 things that I HAVE to make happen.</p><p>Anyway - enjoy this one. The first part is one of my favorite bits - I love flirty, affectionate Samcedes. I hope you like it too - please let me know!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The room was grey with pre-dawn light when Mercedes woke up the next morning, surprisingly with only a relatively minor headache. Sam's arm was still around her waist but she'd rolled towards him sometime in the night and her head was pressed against his chest, one of her legs between both of his. She lay there for a minute or two, listening to the slow, steady beat of his heart before she remembered that they weren't at home and she was supposed to be rooming with Quinn while Sam shared a room in the other house with Puck and it finally occurred to her to wonder how they'd wound up sleeping in the same bed. She carefully disentangled herself from him and sat up, contemplating all of this before deciding to wake him up.</p><p>"Sam. Sam. Sam. Saaammm." As she repeated his name in a loud whisper, Mercedes continually poked at her husband's chest and shoulder until he finally opened one eye and squinted at her.</p><p>"What time is it?" he asked sleepily. "Are you still drunk?"</p><p>Mercedes made a face at him. "Early. And NO. But, c'mon, get up."</p><p>"Babe, it's still dark out," he complained. "If you're not still drunk, how the hell are you so cheerful?"</p><p>She considered the question. "I'm not exactly cheerful, I'm just awake." She rolled off the bed and then reached for his hand, tugging him towards her. "But, really, come on. Let's go watch the sunrise."</p><p>Sam almost laughed. "Who are you and what have you done with my wife?" he wondered as he finally stood up. "Because the only thing my wife generally has to say about a sunrise is that it's too damn early in the day."</p><p>She shook her head at him. "I know," she finally said, since she didn't have any other better answer. "I just – I woke up and since it's early enough, it feels like the thing to do."</p><p>"Okay," Sam said, blinking a few times to try to clear the sleep from his eyes. "Guess that's as good a reason as any," he muttered to himself, even as he found his shorts and pulled them on and then followed her out of the bedroom, down the hall and out the back door to the deck and then down to the dock. They were both barefoot, her still in her sundress from the day before. They sat down at the end of the dock, feet dangling in the water. He wrapped his arm around her as she rested her head on his shoulder. The first streaks of pink light were just starting to appear across the sky.</p><p>"See?" she said softly. "Isn't it beautiful?"</p><p>Sam nodded. He had to admit she was right. "Yeah."</p><p>"By the way," she asked after several minutes of silence. "Who took off my bra last night?"</p><p>"Me, of course," he said, looking insulted that she might suggest otherwise, and she laughed, turning her face to look up at him.</p><p>"Did you cop a feel when you did it?"</p><p>He grinned down at her. "Don't ask dumb questions," he said, bending his head to kiss her.</p><p>Mercedes clicked her tongue. "Terrible. Taking advantage of a drunk girl."</p><p>"Now you know I would never."</p><p>"I know," she said, putting her head back on his shoulder. "How drunk was I?" she asked, scrunching up her face as she asked the question.</p><p>He glanced down at her, snuggled against his shoulder, and grinned. "You don't remember?"</p><p>"Vaguely," she replied.</p><p>"Well," Sam said, "Two of the highlights were you telling me that the main reason you married me is because I am 'so hot' –" he made air quotes as he said this and Mercedes groaned – "and you also made sure to let Quinn know that the 'gorgeous man' who brought you to your bedroom was your husband."</p><p>Mercedes groaned again, even as she was also sort of laughing at herself. "Lord, there'll be no living with you now. Your big ol' ego's not gonna fit back in your car to drive home."</p><p>Sam laughed. "Yeah, especially since your next move was to demand that I stay the night in your room."</p><p>"I guess that's when Quinn decided to sleep elsewhere?" Mercedes asked sheepishly.</p><p>"More or less. You don't have to worry about my overinflated ego though, since immediately after demanding I stay, you promptly passed out."</p><p>Mercedes laughed. "Sorry you didn't get lucky, babe," she said, patting his knee.</p><p>Sam laughed too, as he shrugged. "Didn't expect to," he replied simply. "But I won't complain if you want to make that up to me after we get home tonight."</p><p>"Won't complain," Mercedes echoed sarcastically and Sam laughed again.</p><p>"Okay, then, how 'bout it would be awesome?"</p><p>"It's a long drive home, I've got time to think about it," Mercedes said, tipping her face up to his so he could kiss her again, even as he laughed, both of them knowing it was pretty much a done deal.</p><p>"For the record, I married you for a lot more reasons than just being hot," she added as they broke apart.</p><p>Sam laughed. "I know. Same."</p><p>She laughed too before turning a little contemplative. "I think Santana's kind of anxious about the whole 'married' thing."</p><p>Sam nodded. "Yeah. She basically asked my opinion of marriage last night."</p><p>"And?"</p><p>He shrugged. "I told her it doesn't suck." The sidelong glance he gave her after saying this let her know that he was being a complete smart ass.</p><p>"Sam!" she said, punching his arm. "You punk. You didn't say that."</p><p>Sam laughed. "Of course I didn't say that. I told her was the best decision I've ever made."</p><p>"Much better answer," Mercedes told him before shaking her head and laughing again. "God, I can just hear what she'd've said if you actually said 'it doesn't suck.'"</p><p>"Oh yeah?"</p><p>Mercedes grinned before launching into a pretty fair imitation of Santana and saying, "Marriage might not suck, but for your sake, Trouty, I sure hope Mercedes does."</p><p>"Why, Mrs. Evans," Sam said, in a mock scandalized tone, "do you kiss your husband with that mouth?"</p><p>She grinned again. "Sure do," she replied, leaning over to do just that before she added, with a smirk, "And not just on his lips."</p><p>"Oh my," he said, in a George Takei voice, and Mercedes burst out laughing, even as he was kissing her again. The way Sam made her laugh was definitely one of the reasons she'd married him.</p><p>"I love you," she said quietly as they broke apart.</p><p>"I love you too," he replied, pressing a kiss into her hair as she put her head on his shoulder again, before she pulled back and took a deep breath, staring out at the water.</p><p>"Sam – I need to tell you something."</p><p>Sam turned his head to look at her. She suddenly seemed – anxious, unsettled.</p><p>"And, no, I'm not pregnant," she said quickly, before he could say anything. "Or at least, I better not be, considering the massive amounts of alcohol I've consumed this weekend."</p><p>"Oh-kay," he said slowly. "But is it about what you were really thinking about yesterday afternoon?"</p><p>Mercedes nodded. "Yeah. I glanced at my email on the way back from the spa – there was one from the label. They want me at the main offices for a meeting tomorrow afternoon. And then there was another one from Callie – you know, that producer I've worked with a bunch?" Sam nodded and she continued, "She said she's not supposed to tell me, but they're going to offer me an actual recording contract, a chance to make a few songs, put an EP on iTunes – like, the real deal."</p><p>"Are you serious?" Sam said and she nodded. "Baby, that's amazing! It's everything you've been working towards, I'm so proud of you." He pulled her in tight against him in a hug before realizing that she still seemed a little anxious. "What's wrong?"</p><p>Another deep breath. "My sound – it's not right for Nashville producers. They're going to ask me to move to New York and write and record and everything there. It's gonna take at least a year."</p><p>Sam shrugged. "Okay, so we're moving to New York, then."</p><p>"Sam – we can't just pick up and move. I can't ask you to do that – leave your job, the city that you love – "</p><p>"Of course you can," he said, interrupting her. "That's how we wound up in Nashville in the first place – I got a job first and you said, okay, I'm moving to Nashville after graduation." His brow furrowed as he thought back. "And I'm pretty sure I didn't ask you to do that either. You just did it."</p><p>"Okay, but – "</p><p>"But what?"</p><p>"But your job is like, the real grown-up one in this marriage. It's our primary income, it's where we get our health insurance – and more importantly than that, you really love it."</p><p>"Yeah, I love what I do," Sam said with a shrug. "But I'm not all that attached to the company – I can find graphic design work anywhere, really."</p><p>"But you love Nashville," she said, chewing on her bottom lip. "And I mean, I've kind of come to love it too."</p><p>Sam nodded. "I know. And I can't say I won't be sad to leave, but, I mean, come on – New York? You love it there. Maybe it's your turn to introduce me to your city." He grinned. "And besides, most of our friends live there."</p><p>"Except Quinn."</p><p>Sam frowned, thinking for a minute and eventually shaking his head. "Yeah, okay, I don't have a counter-argument to that."</p><p>Mercedes sighed. "I have to admit – " her voice trailed off as she tried to figure out the right words for what she was thinking - "I almost wonder if she might be better off without us in the same city?"</p><p>Sam frowned. "How do you mean?"</p><p>"Just – like, we're a comfort zone for her, you know? She's really done with Puck finally – she'd like to find a real relationship, but maybe always having us to hang out with keeps her from taking that risk, you know?" Mercedes shook her head. "I don't know, maybe not."</p><p>"No, I get what you're saying."</p><p>They were quiet for a minute before Mercedes said with a sigh, "It's all just a rumor right now anyway. Or hearsay or something. No point in getting worked up over something that might not even happen."</p><p>"Hey," Sam said firmly, "It's going to happen. Maybe not this week, but eventually. You're too talented for it not to happen."</p><p>Mercedes nodded, not looking at him, and said quietly, "You have to say that, it's like a husband rule or something."</p><p>Sam turned his body towards hers. "Hey," he said, more firmly, cupping her cheek in his hand and turning her head to force her to meet his eyes. "You know that's not true. You could have dumped me in high school and never spoken to me again and I would still say you're the most talented person I've ever met."</p><p>She rolled her eyes but didn't look away from him and he grinned. "Granted, I might be bitter about it, but it would still be true."</p><p>Mercedes smiled at him, shaking her head. "You're still crazy, Sam Evans."</p><p>Sam kept grinning. "Yeah. Still crazy about you. And you still love it. And that," he said, leaning in close, "you absolutely know is true, Mercedes Evans."</p><p>It was such a dumb thing, but even more than two years later, her heart still did a funny flip-flopping thing every time she heard her new name.</p><p>"Yeah. I know," she said, just before their lips met and she let herself get lost in kissing her husband, one of her arms going around his neck, fingers tangling in his hair, her other hand sliding up under the back of his t-shirt as his hand slid from the side of her face, down her arm and then over to cup her breast through her dress.</p><p>"Hey! Behave yourselves, there's a child present!"</p><p>Good Lord, she had completely forgotten that they were out in the open in front of two houses occupied by thirteen of their closest friends.</p><p>As they broke apart and turned to see Tina and Mike sauntering down the dock towards them, Tina's words finally caught up to her brain and she gave her friend a WTF look.</p><p>"I think a child being present is a stretch, T. Do they even have eyes yet?"</p><p>Tina shrugged as she sat down beside Mercedes and Mike followed suit. "I think so, but I don't think they can actually see anything yet? Anyway, whatever. I'm totally looking forward to using this excuse to get people to stop doing things I don't like."</p><p>"Yes, Tina, because that's what parenting is all about," Sam said dryly, shaking his head.</p><p>"Don't listen to him, you're gonna be a great mom," Mercedes said loyally, patting Tina's arm before looking back at Sam and mouthing, no, you're totally right.</p><p>"Does it feel weird?" Mercedes asked Tina. "Like, physically and all. Since you can't tell by looking at you yet."</p><p>Tina laughed. "You might not be able to tell, but I can. Pretty much any pants I own that button are impossible already." She took Mercedes' hand and laid it on her abdomen. "Can you feel how tight my belly is? It might not be showing yet, but it's getting ready to."</p><p>"Oh, that is weird," Mercedes said, poking at her own softer belly in comparison.</p><p>"Apparently just one of many crazy, weird things I get to experience," Tina said, shrugging again. "Anyway, how do you feel this morning? You had quite the good time last night."</p><p>"Oh, you hush," Mercedes said, shaking her head. "You know I don't usually get like that."</p><p>"Well, you know, after all the invasive questions about sex after marriage, I'm not surprised you needed a drink. Or twelve," Tina teased.</p><p>"You know she asked me more questions at the spa yesterday?"</p><p>"Oh, she cornered me after we got back to the house yesterday afternoon."</p><p>"Who, Santana?" Mike asked. "She got to me yesterday too."</p><p>"Me too," Sam said. "Do you think she actually arranged this weekend so she could pick the brains of all the married couples?"</p><p>Tina shrugged. "It wouldn't surprise me if it was a motivating factor."</p><p>Sam frowned, Tina's earlier words catching up to him. "Wait, invasive sex questions? She didn't ask me about sex."</p><p>Mercedes side-eyed him. "Really? She passed up a chance to take a crack at me and my original plan to wait for marriage?"</p><p>"Well, no," Sam admitted. "There was one obnoxious joke. But other than that, it was a pretty genuine chat."</p><p>"Yeah, ours too," Mike agreed.</p><p>Tina shook her head, looking at Mercedes. "Really? The guys get the sincere, meaningful conversations and we get challenged on our husbands' ability to bring us to orgasm?"</p><p>"Tina!" Mercedes hissed as Mike and Sam shared amused yet incredulous glances. "Do we have to repeat it?"</p><p>Tina ignored her, continuing to think out loud. "She did burst into tears from the weight of her concern for us. So maybe that's sincere and meaningful?"</p><p>Mercedes sighed, accepting the inevitability of the conversation. "For Santana Lopez – yeah."</p><p>There was quiet for a moment and then, surprisingly, it was Mike who broke the silence. "So – you did defend our honors, right?"</p><p>Tina laughed. "Obviously," she said and both men looked relieved.</p><p>"She threatened to kick your asses, so yeah," Mercedes added, shaking her head. "You know, the whole stereotype of married sex automatically being bad is so dumb. Especially if you want to encourage people to wait for marriage. Which I know not everyone is on board for," she added hastily, "and even I didn't in the end, but I mean, I was pretty sure at that point that I was gonna marry Sam one day, but anyway. It's like when people get all mad at the lady from Full House, the one that played DJ."</p><p>"Oh, right," Sam said. "I remember you showing me that picture."</p><p>At Tina and Mike's quizzical expressions, Mercedes went on to explain about the picture Candace Cameron had posted on Instagram that showed her husband jokingly grabbing her boob.</p><p>"And all her 'Christian' followers got all up in arms and she was like, y'all. If we're trying to tell people that sex and marriage should be linked but then we get pissy about a husband and wife being affectionate and loving and appreciative of each other's bodies, then we're just wrecking our own message." Mercedes shook her head again. "Anyway, I hope we got the point across that marriage doesn't automatically kill your sex life."</p><p>Tina gestured at her stomach. "I mean, what's more proof than an unplanned pregnancy?"</p><p>Laughing, the foursome got up and headed back to the houses to get ready for the day, meeting back out on the deck of the girls' house for breakfast a little while later.</p><p>"Listen, everyone," Brittany said, getting everyone's attention, "I know you all have to start leaving soon so I just wanted to say how much fun this weekend and how much we appreciate you guys coming to celebrate with us." Beside her, Santana was gazing at her with an adoring smile. "We know you'll all be at the wedding, but like Santana said yesterday, this was our chance to really celebrate with you guys. So – thanks."</p><p>"Yeah," Santana chimed in. "Thanks, y'all."</p><p>The good-byes started then – Artie, Finn, Rachel, Kurt and Blaine were all on one flight back to New York and headed out first in one of the rentals, leaving Tina and Mike, who were flying to LaGuardia, not JFK, Puck and Lauren headed to Vegas and Sugar going back to Ohio, to take the other rental back.</p><p>"You're going to ride home with Sam, right?" Quinn said to Mercedes as they got their bags together in their room.</p><p>"Oh!" Mercedes said. "I guess I should, but – I mean, I hate to abandon you – "</p><p>"It's fine, really," Quinn said, waving her away. "I need to call Emily Hansen and talk some final details for the Juliette Barnes shower next week and if I can do that while I drive, that'll give me a head start for the week."</p><p>Quinn could see that her friend still felt bad and she impulsively went to hug her. "Seriously, Mercedes. I'm fine. It's dumb for me to have to drop you off at home when you could just ride with Sam."</p><p>"I mean, I could go halfway with you and we could meet up with Sam somewhere and I'll switch cars…"</p><p>"Mercedes. Go home with your husband. I love you both. I'll text you when I get home."</p><p>"Okay, okay," Mercedes said with a laugh. "Just trying to be a good friend."</p><p>"You are definitely that. I promise," Quinn replied, laughing too.</p><p>Mercedes took her suitcase outside, meeting up with Sam by his Jeep.</p><p>"Any chance I can get a ride home with you?" she asked him.</p><p>"Hmm," Sam replied, appearing to think over the question. "Where are we on the status of gettin' lucky when we get home?"</p><p>Mercedes narrowed her eyes at him. "Um, you're getting nothing if you go home alone, buddy."</p><p>He laughed and leaned over to give her a quick kiss. "Excellent point, my brilliant wife."</p><p>"Hmm," she echoed him, grinning. "The more you flatter, the luckier you might get."</p><p>"I like my odds," Sam grinned, backing her up against the SUV before bending his head to kiss her.</p><p>"Okay, okay, we get the point!" Santana called from the front of the vehicle. "Again, go home and do that on your own time."</p><p>Laughing, Sam and Mercedes broke apart, looked at each other and with nearly one motion, both swooped Santana into a hug.</p><p>"Ugh! Gross! Get your trouty germs off me!" Santana was squealing even as she was laughing and trying to get away from them.</p><p>"We love you, Santana!" Sam said, giving her a loud kiss on the cheek.</p><p>"And you too, Britt!" Mercedes said to Brittany, who was watching the scene with great amusement.</p><p>"We'll see you in New York in two months!"</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well, here I thought I'd update Dancing with Dreams first, but then here came this one, ready to be written. I'm not sure how many parts this epilogue will be - I know everything I want to write, it's just a matter of getting it done and seeing how long it turns out to be. So for now - enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>About two months later</strong>
</p><p>"Jeez, babe, what did you pack? Rocks?" Sam asked as he picked up Mercedes' suitcase and went to set it by the door, ready to leave in the morning.</p><p>"Sam…" Mercedes replied in a tone that was mostly a warning one, but with the tiniest hint of tears and he instantly regretted his dumb joke.</p><p>They were on an early flight to LaGuardia the next morning for Santana and Brittany's wedding weekend – but only Sam had a return ticket to Nashville. Mercedes was due to report to a New York recording studio on Monday morning and unfortunately, Sam had yet to find a job in the City, so he was going to be in Tennessee for a least a little while longer. Kurt and Blaine had graciously offered up their guest room for Mercedes until Sam had a new job and they were ready to fully move their household to New York. So her suitcase was packed as full as it could possibly be.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Sam said. "That was a dumb thing to say."</p><p>Mercedes sighed, waving a hand at him as she went into their bathroom to start her bedtime routine. "It's okay. I know I'm being a big giant baby about it."</p><p>"Hey, c'mon," he said from the bathroom doorway. "It doesn't exactly hurt my feelings to know that you're really gonna miss me."</p><p>Mercedes let out a slight snort of laughter at that. "Funny, since you haven't mentioned that you're going to miss me at all."</p><p>There was silence behind her for so long that she finally turned to look at him – and she could see it all over his face.</p><p>"I can't even think about how much I'm going to miss you," he finally said in a low voice and that did it – she started crying and abandoned her routine as she went to him, burying her face in his chest as he held her, cursing himself again for setting her off.</p><p>"I know this is so stupid," Mercedes said with a watery, hiccuppy laugh, voice muffled from where her face was still pressed against him, "it's not like we're getting divorced or anything and I know you're going to find something and be there before we know it, but it just SUCKS. It's not FAIR. We already spent four years apart. And that was different – it was college, we were younger, we weren't married yet – we're supposed to be stable adults now. Married people aren't supposed to have to live in two different states."</p><p>"I know, I know," he said, trying to sound soothing. "At least we don't have kids yet?"</p><p>"I guess," Mercedes grumped. "But what if we don't ever have any because we only see each other once a month?"</p><p>Sam wasn't really sure how to respond to that, but before he could even try, she took a step back from him and declared, "I'm not going."</p><p>"To the wedding?" Sam was confused now.</p><p>"No, of course I'm going to the wedding. But I'm not going to the studio, I'm not staying in New York. I'm coming back home with you." She crossed her arms across her chest and gave him that look, the one that practically dared him to argue with her.</p><p>Sam sighed inwardly. He would have to tread carefully here. "Mercedes. Baby. Of course you're going to the studio and staying in New York. This is your dream, this is what you've been working for ever since I met you." He reached for her hands, tugging gently, trying to get her to uncross her arms.</p><p>"So?"</p><p>"So, you are too damn talented to turn down this opportunity." He pulled her back towards him, putting his arms around her again. "And I am so fucking proud of you." He grinned. "I'm also not above saying I told you so."</p><p>She rolled her eyes but didn't respond for a long minute. "I don't know if I can do it without you," she finally said quietly and Sam shook his head.</p><p>"I know you can," he said firmly.</p><p>Mercedes sighed. "Okay, I don't <em>want</em> to do it without you there."</p><p>Sam grimaced at this statement. "I get that. I really do. But I'll be cheering you on from here, just as much as I would there." He paused, studying her face, trying to ascertain where she was at emotionally at this point. "There's another thing, too."</p><p>She eyed him warily. "What?"</p><p>"You signed a contract, babe. And we can NOT afford the legal fees if you decided to break it."</p><p>Mercedes stared at him, speechless for a moment before finally a small giggle escaped her lips. "You would be the practical one about this."</p><p>"Ha!" he replied. "Excuse me, ma'am, might I remind you what you said when I said I'd just quit and we'd live on our savings until I got a job?"</p><p>"That we'd burn through it way too fast and we couldn't do that," Mercedes muttered reluctantly.</p><p>"Right," he said, cradling her face in his hands and using his thumbs to swipe away the lingering tear tracks on her cheeks. "And at least we're gonna have this absolutely amazing weekend together with our friends and I don't fly out till Monday so I can see you off to the studio on your first day and then you'll be back here for the weekend in two weeks. And with any luck, I'll have a job by then. And we'll get through this, okay?"</p><p>She nodded. "Okay," she agreed quietly, bringing her hands to the back of his head and pulling it down towards her own.</p><p>"Okay," he said again as their lips met, the kiss slow, gentle, tender at first, then turning more intense, Mercedes pressing her body against Sam's, pushing him back out of the doorway into their bedroom, both of them pulling at the other's clothes as they moved towards their bed.</p><p>Sam found himself thinking later that he wasn't sure if Mercedes had ever looked so intently at him during sex before, almost like she was trying to memorize every bit of him. In some ways, she was, wanting the image of him burned into her brain to get her through the upcoming weeks apart.</p><p>They were lying there afterward, curled together, Mercedes' back to his chest, his chin resting on her shoulder, his arms around her waist, her hands on top of his, her thumb idly rubbing over his wedding band.</p><p>"I'm sorry," he said, so quietly she almost didn't hear him at first.</p><p>"For what?" she asked, trying to twist her head around so she could see him.</p><p>He shifted a little, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "That we're not moving together, that I can't find a job yet…" his voice trailed off before he said, quieter still, "I feel like I'm letting you down, like I can finally understand how my dad must have felt when everything went down in high school…"</p><p>His words, and the tone he said them in, made Mercedes feel like a cold hand had reached into her chest and was twisting her heart in its grip. She quickly rolled over in his embrace, her hands going up to either side of his face, forcing him to meet her gaze.</p><p>"Oh, baby – honey, no. You're not letting me down, I really am just being a big whiner. It's not your fault – the right thing will come along. I know it will."</p><p>Sam nodded, his eyes still not really meeting hers and she sighed. "Baby, look at me. I'm sorry too. I never meant to make you feel bad."</p><p>He nodded again, green eyes meeting brown this time, and she put a hand through his hair. "I love you," she said, quietly but fiercely. "So much…"</p><p>"I love you too," he replied, even as she was kissing him again and then neither of them said much of anything else for the remainder of the evening.</p>
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